When buildings become outdated and/or need to be taken down, these structures are typically treated as waste. But within a circular economy, demolition materials themselves can become a resource for creating something new.
In their recent publication, researchers from the Technical University of Civil Engineering in Bucharest, Romania claim that reusing reinforced concrete from old structures in road infrastructure isn’t just possible – it’s cost-effective, too.
In Romania, over 60% of residential buildings are more than 50 years old. Many of these structures are made of reinforced concrete, which positions them as major sources of recyclable material.
To evaluate the potential of recycling reinforced concrete, the research team at UTCB did a case analysis of a student residence building constructed in 1982. Made of precast reinforced concrete panels, the structure contains an impressive estimate of 4,572 cubic meters of recoverable material. This could be enough for over 3 kilometres of road, based on standard material requirements.
Concrete recycling involves collecting demolition waste, processing it into aggregates, and reusing it in new construction projects. The research team evaluated three road construction scenarios: a reference option using only ballast, a mixed solution combining recycled concrete and ballast, and a solution using only recycled concrete. The analysis revealed that the fully recycled concrete option has the lowest total cost, while the ballast-only scenario is the most expensive one – and, of course, the least sustainable one.
These insights suggest that, from an economic perspective, the use of recycled concrete in road infrastructure is both cost-effective and sustainability-driven, particularly when recovered materials are used as a primary material. Although there are some limitations to consider, the findings clearly demonstrate that recycled concrete represents a viable and cost-effective strategy within the circular economy.
References
Marian-Valentin, Popescu & Mădălina, Stoian & Camelia, Silvestru & Alexandru-Ionel, Ioniță & Iuliana, Manea & Oana-Mihaela, Stan. (2026). Cost Analysis of Concrete Recycling in Road Works: A Case Study on Circular Economy in the Construction Sector. Romanian Journal of Transport Infrastructure. 14. 1-22. 10.2478/rjti-2025-0013.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication
