State of the art on recycling techniques for the production of recycled sands and aggregates from construction and demolition wastes

Construction and demolition wastes (C&DW) are estimated at one third of total wastes generated in the European Union (EU) and represent the main flux in volume. These wastes can be recycled in suitable recycling facilities which include a series of techniques able to crush and sort materials to finally produce recycled sands and aggregates with required properties. Common sorting techniques consist in ferrous metal sorting, hand-picking sorting and washing or air shifting sorting. Crushing is usually carried out by an impact or a jaw crusher and less frequently by a cone crusher. A combination of different crushers is also common for stationary recycling plants. In order to continuously improve the quality of the produced recycled materials, results obtained from innovative recycling techniques are also increasingly documented in literature. Some of the main innovative techniques related to C&DW recycling purposes are introduced in the study.