Croatia - Construction & Demolition Waste Management

Summary

As Croatia continues to move toward EU accession, full alignment with the EU requirements for the management of special categories of waste, including construction and demolition (C&D) waste, as well as shipments and trans-boundary movement of waste is still needed. Croatia is committed to meeting these goals and has estimated that the required funding for the establishment of the overall integrated waste management system is US USD2.2 billion. Fast growth is forecast throughout the sector and multiple opportunities exist for suppliers, although European competition is significant.

Market Demand

In line with methods and procedures of the Ordinance on Construction Waste Management (OG 38/08) and The Waste Management Plan in the Republic of Croatia for the period from 2007 to 2015 (adopted in 2007), progress was made in 2009 and 2010 concerning activities to develop and establish a sustainable system for C&D waste management in the Republic of Croatia. Specific objectives of the C&D waste management operational plan include:

Control of all the quantities, composition and flows of C&D waste
Change and update of current legislation in building/construction sector to increase use of environmentally friendly materials
Financial stimulation of separation, recycling and recovery of recycled material.
Avoiding and preventing generation of new C&D waste
Incorporating C&D waste problems into waste management plans of counties, the City of Zagreb, towns and municipalities
Developing waste management centres with combined treatment/disposal facilities for C&D waste
Separating C&D waste at collection points
Recycling and/or recovery of C&D waste
Disposal of C&D waste only at C&D waste landfills as parts of regional or county WM centres
Educating and informing all the participants of the C&D waste management process

In the forthcoming period, the construction of county and regional waste management centres with facilities for processing C&D waste will continue, and it is expected that they will be set up by the end of 2018. The establishment of a comprehensive waste management system in the Republic of Croatia is expected once the centres are built.

Market Data

The construction sector in Croatia produces 2 million tons of C&D waste. Due to a lack of adequate recycling facilities and lack of an organized and economically sustainable waste management system, only a small part of C&D waste is properly disposed, while the recycling and re-use percentage is below 7%. The environmental impact of the waste is high but still of very little concern to polluters due to weak penalty and incentive measures.

Composition of non-hazardous industrial waste by groups of activities (National Classification of Economic Activities) disposed at municipal waste landfills (data from 2004):

A: Agriculture, hunting and forestry
B: Fishing
C: Mining and quarrying
D: Manufacturing
E: Electricity, gas and water supply
F: Construction
G: Retail and wholesale trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods
H: Hotels and restaurants
I: Transport, storage and communication
J: Financial intermediation
K: Real estate, renting and business activities
M: Education
N: Health and social work
O: Other community, social and personal service activities

Construction industry generates significant 4.9% of waste.

Today, concrete industry is the largest consumer of natural resources and one of the largest waste producers. As the environmental protection and energy savings are becoming essential global problem in all fields of technology, the need for a sustainable construction has been recognized as a key element in all fields of civil engineering. The sustainable construction begins with decision to build a sustainable structure. This does not mean only to use the environmentally friendly construction material but, looking at the entire life cycle of a structure, to make detailed estimates of energy consumption, carbon dioxide emission, noise level and other environmental impacts.

The problem of durability of construction materials in Croatia has often been emphasized in recent years. Practice indicates that some materials traditionally considered durable, degrade very quickly under the impact of aggressive environment, as at the Adriatic coast, and cause enormous reconstruction costs. In addition, fast development of Croatia’s tourism infrastructure requires re-construction and construction of hotels, apartments and restaurant facilities. Construction, re-construction and demolition produce large quantities of C&D waste which need a proper disposal. In Croatia, the largest quantities of generated C&D waste still end up on landfills and very often at so called “wild dumpsites”.

Types of Construction waste

According to the Waste Management Strategy of the Republic of Croatia (OG 130/05) C&D waste is generated during the production of building products or semi-manufactured products, construction, demolition and reconstruction works.

Types of C&D waste are defined under the Ordnance on Waste Categories, Types and Classification with Waste Catalogue and Hazardous Waste List (OG 5178/2004), under key number 17. In general, types of materials which may appear in C&D waste depend on the types of construction works:

ground excavation – soil, sand, gravel, clay, loam, stone;
structural engineering - bitumen (asphalt) or cement bound material, sand, gravel, crushed stone;
building construction – concrete, brick, mortar, plaster, gas concrete, natural stone;
mixed construction waste – wood, plastic, paper, cardboard, metal, cables, paint, varnish, rubble.

Types of C&D waste are also differentiated depending on whether an existing structure is being demolished or a new structure is being constructed. Taking into account geographical features of Croatia, in Dalmatia and the maritime coastlands stone is the predominant construction waste; in the north-western region concrete and brick while in the east, brick and mixed waste (rubble) are predominant.

In certain counties and municipalities, more than 80% of waste deposited in dumps is C&D waste.

C&D waste has considerable financial value and technologies for separation and recycling are easy accessible and usually cheap. But the most important thing is that there is a market for recycled and recovered material from C&D waste which is used in different areas of civil engineering. The only fixed plant intended exclusively for the processing of C&D waste is part of the Zagreb waste landfill Jakuševac. Otherwise, construction companies and quarries have facilities, mainly mobile ones, where they recycle part of their C&D waste and reuse it. Collection and transport of C&D waste is carried out for the lesser part by authorized collectors and utility services. The greater part is organized and performed by contractors and their sub-contractors, using their own machinery and equipment. The present level of the C&D waste recycling is under 7%, and about 11% of valuable secondary raw materials are separated. For the comparison, developed European countries recycle about 80% of C&D waste.

Documents and regulations relevant to C&D waste management:

Ordnance on Construction Waste Management (OG 38/08) – no English translation
Waste Management Strategy of the Republic of Croatia (OG 130/05)
Waste Management Plan of the Republic of Croatia for the Period 2007-2015 (OG 85/07)
Waste Act (OG 111/06, 60/08, 87/09)
Regulation on categories, types and classification of waste with a waste catalogue and list of hazardous waste (OG 39/09)
Ordnance on the Method and Procedures for Managing Waste containing Asbestos (OG 42/07)

According to the Waste Act, the local county, municipality and city authorities ensure the conditions and prescribe measures for C&D waste management.

C&D Waste Management Plan

Initial guidelines and measures for a future comprehensive C&D Waste Management Plan (The Plan) for the Republic of Croatia are given within the scope of the LIFE project1, LIFE05 TCY/CRO/000114: CONWAS - Development of Sustainable Construction and Demolition Waste Management System. The Project commenced in 2006 and it is completed in 2008. The Plan will be a part of the National Waste Management Plan and applicable for the whole territory of Croatia. According to Article 9 of the Waste Act, the Plan should present a record of sources, types, quantities, collection, transportation, recovery, recycling and disposal of C&D waste.

Best Prospects

C&D waste makes a considerable part in total waste amount and depending on material type majority of them can be reused or recycled. Construction of new county waste management centres with C&D waste treatment plants has been in progress and will continue in the next 5 to 10 years. According to cost effectiveness studies, the mobile or semi-mobile C&D waste recovery plants are recommended for the Croatian market because the stationary plants are feasible for the C&D waste quantities exceeding 1000,000 tons per year.

Market demand:

Mobile C&D waste treatment plants
Ancillary equipment for the C&D waste treatment/recycling

C&D waste management projects will be realized along with construction of the regional and county waste management centres and will be co-financed from the funds of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund (EPEEF), IPA-EU pre-accession fund and local and regional self-government units.

Key Suppliers

For carrying out activities of the C&D waste management (collection, recycling/recovery, disposal), it is necessary to obtain a permit in accordance with Article 41 of the Waste Act. According to the Croatian Environmental Agency (CEA), more than 100 companies hold permits for C&D waste management. They are utility service companies and construction companies.

Market Entry

As Croatia prepares to integrate into the European Union, business opportunities will grow for companies positioned to assist in modernization of infrastructure, deployment of environmentally friendly waste management technologies and information and communication technology networking.

Considering recently adopted national legislation in the waste sector, harmonized with the EU legislation, fast growth in the sector and sub-sectors is expected. If companies want to enter Croatian market, the key issue is to find a local representative or distributor. Some companies will also encounter stiff competition from local and European firms, especially Austrian, German and Italian firms. However, there is no significant domestic production of environmental equipment and in general.