A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON THE POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION OF A MOBILE CONCRETE RECYCLING SYSTEM IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

As urbanisation continues to take place around the world, resource depletion has become one the major environmental concerns for many. The lack of raw minerals in Singapore entails that the construction project has to rely on neighboring countries for resources and in particular granites and stones for the production of concrete. This was brought to light during the Indonesia sand ban crisis in 2007 which shook the industry and alerted all to the severe consequences of being overreliance. Recycling concrete is not only important for the preservation of precious resources, but also allows for Singapore to build supply resilience. Singapore has since taken gradual steps to promote the use of Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA) and the possibility of widespread application of RCA beckons for a less energy intensive process to produce Recycled Concrete. A current way to reduce the carbon footprint of this process is to eliminate the need to transport aggregates to a static recycling plant through the use of a Mobile Concrete Recycling System (MCRS). Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of implementing a MCRS in the context of Singapore. Related literature works were done of which many acknowledged the need to recycle concrete, thus this research aims to test the feasibility of MCRS against the projects provided in Housing Development Board’s (HDB) Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS). 71 sites in SERS were identified and measurements were taken and categories, based on the site area, into unsuitable, likely, suitable and very suitable projects to implement MCRS. Out of the 71 sites, one site, which falls in the category of suitable, was chosen to be used as a mock up test to determine the feasibility of placing the MCRS within the site. Furthermore, the potential savings and carbon dioxide that could be avoided was due to transportation of the aggregates were calculated. Lastly, an interview was conducted to gather experts’ opinion the concerns of utilising MCRS in Singapore and validate the findings.