Using recycled materials is becoming more popular among prominent builders and developers in India today. These materials provide considerable advantages, including cost-effectiveness, environmental friendliness, ease of availability, and greater flexibility in raw material procurement.

 According to industry experts, recycled coarse concrete can significantly reduce the cost of traditional construction. As an outcome, the advantage of recycled cost-effectiveness is attracting a sizable customer base to the market. Rapid urbanisation has prompted infrastructure projects to bridge the growing demandsupply gap. Many companies attempt to provide low-cost recycling machines and plants to customers across various regions to boost recycled waste in construction projects.

 India’s C&D waste recycling market

 According to Manish Bhartia, Promoter & Managing Director, CDE Asia Limited, “the benefits of repurposing waste have been so drastic and obvious that the government of India issued a new set of rules in 2016 that required recycling for all major cities.” The rules also include time-bound waste recycling solutions implementation and wet processing technology recommendations.

 According to Uttkarsh Mehta, Promoter, Edifice Engineering, the demolition market in India is one of the unorganised markets. Contractors are not concerned about safety and prefer to do Demolition in conventional ways by puncturing columns and allowing the building to fall in an uncontrolled way. With the addition of engineered contractors like us, the market is now driving towards safe demolitions by mechanical means and using fewer labourers on-site to help the job be completed safely.

 Manish says that a CPWD law requiring using recycled products was issued. CDE Asia was a pioneer in India’s C&D Waste Recycling space, supplying the country’s first plant to Delhi. Following the success of trials in Delhi and Ahmedabad, cities such as Hyderabad, Surat, Pune, Mumbai, and Kolkata have established C&D Waste Disposal Plants. “We’ve delivered 100 plants worldwide, including 10 in India that treat 10,000 tonnes of waste per hour.”

 On the other hand, Uttkarsh emphasises that builders, developers, infrastructure companies, corporates, plants, and factories are now preparing to do Demolition by mechanical means for safe operations with environmentally friendly techniques that help to save mother earth.

 Equipment used for recycling of C&D waste

 In India, it is standard practice to break concrete and steel using high-rise demolition excavators with crusher and shear attachments. The height of this machinery extends from 16 metres to 42 metres, making it the tallest in India. Utkarsh comments on this by pointing out that robotic Demolition is also employed in limited spaces and on tall structures where other equipment cannot reach them. One of the vibration-free solutions for partial DemolitioN

is diamond-cutting equipment. “On-site bucket crushers or stationary machines for shrinking trash are used for recycling concrete rubble,” he continues.

 “At CDE Asia, we have introduced revolutionary and patented technologies that have redefined the construction, mining, and waste management industries worldwide,” Manish says. While traditional methods remain prominent, Manish discusses CDE Asia’s recent introduction of the game-changing ReUrban Platform, which converts landfill and construction and demolition waste into recycled sand and construction aggregates, enabling a transition to a circular economy.

 Recycling equipment market size

 India lags behind the developed market using mechanical tools and technologies for Demolition by nearly ten years. Adding more information, Utkarsh discusses a significant shift in the structural steel dismantling industry. Industrialised nations now cut structural steel with heavy shears mounted on large excavators, unlike India, where we still employ human labour and gas cutting. Other technologies, including implosions, cranes, wrecking balls, and hydro Demolition, have already become commonplace in industrialised nations for performing Demolition.

 According to Manish, who is discussing the statistics, less than 1 per cent of the C&D garbage generated in India every year—an estimated 500 million tonnes—is recycled. The United Kingdom produces 66.2 million tonnes of C & D trash annually and has impressively increased its recovery rate through recycling to 91 per cent.

 “While the progress has not been awe-inspiring so far in India, going forward, as more and more cities discover the benefits of recycling, the growth potential of the equipment industry is exponential, and we are hopeful,” says Manish.

 Addressing challenges in C&D Waste management

 “Dust particles from C&D waste stockpiles are becoming airborne in densely populated areas, causing severe air pollution,” Manish is concerned. Waste is also illegally dumped in drains, lakes, and other bodies of water, clogging, polluting, and causing flooding. Repurposing C&D waste lands worth billions of dollars can save them from landfills.

 “In densely populated areas, the most difficult challenges are those encountered when approaching the structure to be demolished because it makes a lot of noise and dust,” Uttkarsh explains. Moreover, demolishing the entire structure takes significant time and effort. Furthermore, salvageable and non-salvageable materials are disposed of away from the site.

 Edifice, as engineered demolition contractors, decides on the solution and technology we should approach the structure for Demolition and provides our clients with safe, economical, and environmentally friendly environmental solutions, according to Uttkarsh.

 Eco-friendly technologies to improve recycling efficiency

 “All our equipment is environmentally friendly because it uses less energy and recycles 95 per cent of the water it consumes,” Manish adds. “Those plants can be placed with little effort and in substantially smaller locations because of the high level of automation. Each of our goods is additionally examined using ‘Finite Element Analysis to ensure that only the ideal amount of material is utilised and that their weight is maintained to ensure minimal power usage.”

 Adding more to the discussion, Uttkarsh says, “Demolition of structures will always generate dust and noise, which should be mitigated and minimised in the best possible eco-friendly ways. Spraying mist and water through equipment for controlling dust and using crushers instead of breakers to control noise.”

 The opportunities 

People’s changing preferences and the need to keep up with the times are expected to drive up sales of demolition equipment. Furthermore, demand for demolition equipment is increasing due to rapid changes in the engineering design components of infrastructure. This rapid change in building engineering design is one of the factors driving the global demolition equipment market. Regional regulation aimed at preventing illegal development or encroachment on existing structures and monuments has also encouraged the expansion of the demolition equipment market and increased demolition equipment sales.

We have delivered 100 plants throughout the globe, including ten plants in India, which are treating 10,000 tonnes of waste per hour.
Manish Bhartia, Promoter & Managing Director, CDE Asia Limited

One of the vibrationfree solutions for partial Demolition is diamond cutting equipment.
Uttkarsh Mehta, Promoter, Edifice Engineering