Pdeng in developing LCA and LCC models to support the sustainable valorization of building CDW in road pavement infrastructure

Organization: University of Twente
Location: Netherlands
Duration: 2-year post-master’s degree
Pay/Volunteer: € 2,009, 40hr/week
Deadline: 19 Jun 2022
Description: The Netherlands is widely recognized as a frontrunner in CDW recycling. However, the majority of the CDW is used as a road base material or as filler material to raise the level of industrial estates. Recycling in such low-value applications is called downcycling and consists of using recycled material for an application of less value than the original purpose of the material. Given the current context where Rijkswaterstaat is moving from the construction of new transportation infrastructure to the maintenance and rehabilitation of the existing ones, the market for downgraded recycled materials is expected to achieve a saturation point.

Using CDW materials in bounded layers of road pavement infrastructure is a promising alternative to downcycling that multiple recent research efforts have proved to be technically possible. However, the extent to which such alternative recycling routes are environmentally and economically beneficial remains unknown.

This project aims to tighten the links between building and road transportation infrastructure sectors through the development of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) models to quantify the environmental impacts and costs associated with the use of building CDW materials in bounded layers of road pavement infrastructure.
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Expired