Characterization of wastes from construction and demolition sector

In Republic of Korea, construction and demolition (C&D) waste accounts for 49.9% of the total waste. In the present work, the mineralogical composition, the concentrations of 11 heavy metals, 19 PAH, and 7 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners present in the 6 broad category (9 subcategories) of C&D hazardous waste were discussed along with their leaching characteristics. In concrete/mixed cement waste, the concentrations of As, Cr(6+), Hg, and Zn were in the range of 1.76-7.86, ND-1.63, 0.026-0.047, and 110.90-280.17 mg/kg, respectively. The asphalt waste sample A1 possessed relatively high concentrations of phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene comparing to the other samples and it contains 0.08-0.1% of coal tar. Hazardous nature of the C&D wastes greatly depends on the source of the collection. Zn concentration was above 1000 mg/kg for road asphalt waste samples A4 and A5. Total PCB concentration were high in the soil waste sample S1 (130 μg/kg) as it was the excavated soil obtained from the premises of an oil station. Leaching of As, Ba, CN(-), and F(-) were observed in most of the C&D waste samples.