Quantifying environmental impacts and eco-costs from brick waste

The construction industry has historically consumed large quantities of raw materials. Waste generation from the use of these materials can have a significant impact on the environment. Major potential sources of pollution from construction processes are waste materials, emissions from vehicles, noise and release of contaminants to the atmosphere, ground and water. In order to minimize the impact of waste generated by construction activities, a methodology to estimate the eco-costing of construction waste is proposed by this work. The article presents the results of quantifying the ecological cost and impact of brick waste from construction sites on the environment. Life-cycle assessment methodology and Eco-indicator 95 are used to calculate the impact of brick waste. This article provides a first attempt to conceptualize eco-costing issues in relation to waste from construction activities. Generally, the results show that the impact is mainly due to the burning of diesel from machinery during dismantling processes and the use of vehicles for transportation of brick waste.