Construction and demolition activities produced 38.4% of all waste generated in the European Union in 2022. In the United States, construction and demolition debris reached 600.33 million U.S. tons in 2018, with concrete and asphalt concrete accounting for most of the reported material. The figures below show where this waste came from, what it contained, and where it went.
Contents
- Construction waste scale in the EU and United States
- U.S. construction and demolition waste by material
- Waste generated during construction
- Waste generated during demolition
- U.S. waste by source sector
- Recycling and end destinations
- UK non-hazardous construction waste recovery
Construction waste scale in the EU and United States
The European Commission’s Eurostat report, “Waste generation by economic activities and households, 2022”, records 2,233 million tonnes of waste from all economic activities and households in the EU in 2022. Construction and demolition activities contributed 38.4% of that total. The same report says major mineral waste represented 64% of EU waste generation, equal to 3.2 tonnes per inhabitant in 2022.
The European Commission Joint Research Centre’s construction and demolition waste page gives a broader current-page statement: construction and demolition waste accounts for more than 33% of all waste generated in the EU. This statement is presented separately from the Eurostat 2022 measurements, so the percentages should not be treated as identical estimates.
The U.S. series is measured in U.S. tons and comes from the EPA’s “Construction and Demolition Debris: Material-Specific Data”. Reported generation was 547.04 million U.S. tons in 2015, 569.36 million U.S. tons in 2017, and 600.33 million U.S. tons in 2018.
| Geography and period | Reported construction and demolition waste |
|---|---|
| EU, 2022, all economic activities and households | 2,233 million tonnes |
| U.S., 2015 | 547.04 million U.S. tons |
| U.S., 2017 | 569.36 million U.S. tons |
| U.S., 2018 | 600.33 million U.S. tons |
These totals use different geographic scopes, units, and reporting systems. They are useful for showing scale, but they are not a directly comparable country-to-region rate.
U.S. construction and demolition waste by material
The EPA’s 2018 fact sheet, “Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2018 Fact Sheet Assessing Trends in Materials Generation and Management in the United States”, published in December 2020, lists 600.3 million tons across its material categories for U.S. construction and demolition debris in 2018.
Concrete was the largest listed material at 405.2 million tons. Asphalt concrete contributed 107.0 million tons, while wood products contributed 40.8 million tons. The remaining listed categories were much smaller: drywall and plasters at 15.2 million tons, asphalt shingles at 15.1 million tons, brick and clay tile at 12.3 million tons, and steel at 4.7 million tons.
The distribution shows how strongly mineral materials shape the overall construction waste profile. Concrete and asphalt concrete together account for 512.2 million tons in the EPA’s 2018 material listing. That combined figure is stated here as the sum of the two reported category values, not as a separately published EPA statistic.
Waste generated during construction
Construction-phase waste was considerably smaller than demolition-phase debris in the EPA’s 2018 breakdown. All listed U.S. construction-phase C&D waste totaled 33.0 million tons.
Concrete waste generated during construction totaled 24.2 million tons. Wood-products waste totaled 3.4 million tons, and drywall and plaster waste totaled 3.9 million tons. Asphalt-shingle waste added 1.2 million tons, while brick-and-clay-tile waste added 0.3 million tons.
The EPA’s listed construction-phase values for steel and asphalt concrete were both 0 million tons. These values are retained as reported and should not be read as proof that no such material was physically discarded at any U.S. construction site. They describe the categories and estimates in the cited 2018 fact sheet.
Construction waste by the listed material categories was therefore reported as follows for 2018:
- Concrete: 24.2 million tons
- Drywall and plaster: 3.9 million tons
- Wood products: 3.4 million tons
- Asphalt shingles: 1.2 million tons
- Brick and clay tile: 0.3 million tons
- Steel: 0 million tons
- Asphalt concrete: 0 million tons
The phase distinction matters. Construction waste comes from building or installing new work, whereas demolition waste comes from taking existing structures or infrastructure apart. Combining the two can obscure where prevention, separation, and recovery efforts are most relevant.
Waste generated during demolition
The EPA reported 567.3 million tons of listed U.S. demolition-phase C&D debris in 2018. Concrete demolition debris made up 381.0 million tons, and asphalt-concrete demolition debris made up 107.0 million tons.
Other demolition categories included 37.4 million tons of wood products, 13.9 million tons of asphalt shingles, 12.0 million tons of brick and clay tile, 11.3 million tons of drywall and plaster, and 4.7 million tons of steel.
| Material | Construction phase, 2018 | Demolition phase, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete | 24.2 million tons | 381.0 million tons |
| Wood products | 3.4 million tons | 37.4 million tons |
| Drywall and plaster | 3.9 million tons | 11.3 million tons |
| Steel | 0 million tons | 4.7 million tons |
| Brick and clay tile | 0.3 million tons | 12.0 million tons |
| Asphalt shingles | 1.2 million tons | 13.9 million tons |
| Asphalt concrete | 0 million tons | 107.0 million tons |
The reported phase totals also illustrate the concentration of debris in demolition: 567.3 million tons compared with 33.0 million tons for all listed construction-phase categories. These are EPA-reported totals for 2018, and the fact sheet’s category definitions and estimation methods govern how they should be interpreted.
U.S. waste by source sector
The EPA also separates selected material totals by source sector. Buildings generated 102.0 million tons of concrete C&D debris in 2018. Roads and bridges generated 168.3 million tons of concrete debris, while other structures generated 134.9 million tons.
Wood-products debris was especially concentrated in buildings: buildings generated 39.5 million tons, compared with 1.3 million tons from other structures. The supplied sector figures do not include a roads-and-bridges value for wood products.
Buildings generated 15.2 million tons of drywall-and-plaster C&D debris and 4.7 million tons of steel C&D debris. Roads and bridges generated 107.0 million tons of asphalt-concrete C&D debris.
For the materials and sectors with reported values, the 2018 picture is:
- Concrete: 102.0 million tons from buildings, 168.3 million tons from roads and bridges, and 134.9 million tons from other structures.
- Wood products: 39.5 million tons from buildings and 1.3 million tons from other structures.
- Drywall and plaster: 15.2 million tons from buildings.
- Steel: 4.7 million tons from buildings.
- Asphalt concrete: 107.0 million tons from roads and bridges.
These figures are material-sector observations, not a complete sector table for every material. Missing combinations should not be interpreted as zero.
Recycling and end destinations
The EPA’s 2018 end-destination estimates show that aggregate was the destination for 52% of U.S. C&D debris. About 313.1 million tons went to aggregate or other aggregate uses. Landfills received 24%, equal to 143.8 million tons, while manufactured products received 22%, equal to 131.6 million tons.
The fact sheet also reports smaller destination categories: fuel use accounted for 7.5 million tons, compost and mulch for 2.5 million tons, and soil amendment for 1.9 million tons. The EPA estimated that 456.6 million tons of U.S. C&D debris were directed to a next use in 2018.
| End destination or use | 2018 amount or share |
|---|---|
| Aggregate or other aggregate uses | 52%; about 313.1 million tons |
| Landfills | 24%; 143.8 million tons |
| Manufactured products | 22%; 131.6 million tons |
| Fuel use | 7.5 million tons |
| Compost and mulch | 2.5 million tons |
| Soil amendment | 1.9 million tons |
| Directed to a next use | 456.6 million tons |
The percentages and tonnage categories describe different levels of reporting in the EPA fact sheet, so they should not be added together as if they were one mutually exclusive table. In particular, “directed to a next use” is an overall estimate, while the destination percentages identify reported end-use groupings.
UK non-hazardous construction waste recovery
The UK government’s “UK statistics on waste” reports a long series for non-hazardous construction and demolition waste. The reported recovery rate was 89.7% in 2010, when the UK generated 59.2 million tonnes and recovered 53.1 million tonnes.
Recovery rose to 91.4% in 2012, with 55.8 million tonnes generated and 51.0 million tonnes recovered. In 2014, generation was 61.6 million tonnes and recovery was 56.4 million tonnes, a 91.7% rate. In 2016, the UK generated 66.2 million tonnes and recovered 60.6 million tonnes, a 91.6% rate.
The reported rate reached 92.5% in 2017, when generation was 68.7 million tonnes and recovery was 63.6 million tonnes. In 2018, generation was 67.8 million tonnes and recovery was 63.2 million tonnes, producing a 93.1% recovery rate. In 2019, the UK generated 68.2 million tonnes and recovered 63.7 million tonnes, a 93.3% rate.
The series then reports 59.4 million tonnes generated and 55.0 million tonnes recovered in 2020, a 92.6% rate. The geography changes in the latest entries: England generated 61.1 million tonnes and recovered 57.2 million tonnes in 2021, a 93.6% rate, followed by 63.0 million tonnes generated and 59.4 million tonnes recovered in 2022, a 94.3% rate.
| Period | Geography | Generated | Recovered | Recovery rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | UK | 59.2 million tonnes | 53.1 million tonnes | 89.7% |
| 2014 | UK | 61.6 million tonnes | 56.4 million tonnes | 91.7% |
| 2018 | UK | 67.8 million tonnes | 63.2 million tonnes | 93.1% |
| 2020 | UK | 59.4 million tonnes | 55.0 million tonnes | 92.6% |
| 2022 | England | 63.0 million tonnes | 59.4 million tonnes | 94.3% |
The 2021 and 2022 entries are for England rather than the UK, so they should be compared with the earlier UK figures only with that scope change in mind. The series concerns non-hazardous C&D waste and should not be generalized to all construction waste.