Construction Waste Sorting Equipment: Transforming "Urban Waste" into "Recycled Treasures"
Posted time：2025 / 11 / 04 16:15:19
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At 8 a.m. at a Demolition Site in Nigeria,In the past, construction waste from demolition would pile up like small hills. Loaders transported the waste to landfills trip after trip, and the dust raised made nearby residents afraid to open their windows. But now, several blue construction waste sorting equipment are neatly arranged. The mixed waste of bricks, steel bars, and plastics from demolition is fed into the devices. Half an hour later, the originally messy waste is separated into clean steel bars, crushed masonry, and recyclable plastics — this is a real scene of how construction waste sorting equipment are changing the way urban waste is handled.
China generates more than 3 billion tons of construction waste every year. Traditional landfilling not only occupies land but also wastes a large amount of recyclable resources. However, construction waste sorting equipment, with their ability to "turn waste into treasure", are injecting new vitality into the circular development of cities.
I. From "Waste Landfilling" to "Resource Recycling": How Does It Make Construction Waste "Find Their Own Places"?
At a construction waste treatment plant in Nigeria, the person in charge, Victor Osimhen, still remembers the difficulties three years ago: "At that time, we had to handle 200 tons of construction waste every day, all relying on more than 10 workers to break it with sledgehammers and pick it up by hand. Steel bars were mixed in masonry and hard to separate, and plastic fragments were floating everywhere. After a day's work, the workers were covered in dust. In the end, only a small amount of steel bars could be recycled, and the rest had to be transported to landfills. The transportation and landfilling fees alone cost more than 20,000 yuan every day." Moreover, the capacity of landfills became increasingly tight, and finding new landfill sites also became a problem.
It was not until the introduction of construction waste sorting equipment last year that the plant was completely "transformed". Now, when entering the treatment plant, there is no dust flying all over the sky, only the sound of the equipment operating smoothly. The mixed construction waste is first sent to a "coarse crusher" to break large concrete blocks; then it enters the "sorting main machine". The "magnetic separation module" in the equipment is like a "magnet", attracting the steel bars and wire hidden in the waste and dropping them into a dedicated collection box; then the "screening module" starts to work, separating masonry of different sizes like a "sieve" — the large masonry is sent for re-crushing, and the small ones directly become recycled aggregates; finally, the "air separation module" uses appropriate wind force to blow out lightweight plastics and paper scraps for separate collection.
"Now, with 200 tons of construction waste every day, we can recycle 30 tons of steel bars, 150 tons of recycled aggregates, and 5 tons of plastics. The recycled steel bars are sold for money, and the recycled aggregates can be used to make permeable bricks and road base materials. We can save more than 600,000 yuan in costs a year, and we don't have to worry about landfilling anymore," said Manager Wang with a smile.
Not only large-scale treatment plants but also small construction sites can use flexible sorting equipment. At a waste treatment site in Israel, a construction worker said: "In the past, the waste from urban reconstruction had to be transported to the suburbs for treatment, which took 2 hours round trip. Now, with this production line, we can sort the waste right at the construction site. The crushed masonry is directly used to fill the road base, and the steel bars are recycled on the spot. This not only saves transportation costs but also does not delay the construction period." This production line can handle 30 tons of construction waste every day, enabling the "on-site digestion" of waste generated from community reconstruction.
II. Beyond "Cost Saving": It Also Hides These "Great Values"
Construction waste sorting equipment are not just about "separating waste". In practical use, they also bring many unexpected benefits, which have allowed them to "take root" in more cities.
The most direct benefit is "resource conservation and environmental protection". In a municipal project in Andorra, the recycled aggregates processed by sorting equipment were used to replace traditional sand and gravel in the construction of road bases. The project manager calculated: "Traditional construction requires the purchase of 1,000 tons of sand and gravel, costing about 80,000 yuan. However, using the recycled aggregates sorted from construction waste only cost 30,000 yuan in processing fees, and we also saved the environmental costs of sand and gravel mining." Furthermore, after reducing the landfilling of construction waste, the treatment of every 10,000 tons of construction waste can save 1 mu of land (approximately 0.0667 hectares) and reduce the risk of soil pollution.
What is even more surprising is that it "drives employment and industries". Many cities have established recycled building materials industrial parks relying on construction waste sorting equipment, which not only solves the local construction waste treatment problem but also drives employment in the surrounding areas.
Another "hidden advantage" of construction waste sorting equipment is that they "facilitate urban construction". In Qianhai New Area, Shenzhen, China, a large number of infrastructure projects have generated a huge amount of construction waste. After being processed by sorting equipment, the recycled aggregates are used in the construction of roads and parks in the new area. A staff member of the New Area Construction Command said: "The park walkways built with recycled aggregates are no less in hardness and durability than those made of traditional materials. They also reduce reliance on natural sand and gravel, making the construction of the new area both 'green' and 'efficient'."
III. In the Future, It Will Become Even "Smarter and More Flexible"
Today's construction waste sorting equipment are already very practical, but with the changing needs of urban development, they are still being continuously upgraded. In the future, there will be more new applications to make construction waste treatment more efficient and convenient.
For example, future devices will be more "intelligent". At present, some enterprises are developing "AI intelligent sorting devices". The cameras on the devices can recognize the composition of construction waste in real time and automatically adjust the sorting parameters. "For instance, when encountering waste with a high content of steel bars, the device will automatically strengthen the magnetic separation force; when encountering waste with a lot of plastics, it will adjust the wind force to make the sorting more accurate," the R&D personnel explained. In this way, the recycling efficiency of the device can be further improved by 10%.
Some devices will also be more "compact and portable". Although current mobile devices are flexible, they still need to be towed by trucks. In the future, "foldable sorting devices" may appear, which can be transported by small trucks and unfolded for use at construction sites. They are especially suitable for small-scale demolition and decoration projects. "In the future, even a small amount of construction waste generated from residents' decoration can be sorted on-site by small devices, so people no longer have to worry about where to dispose of the waste," said industry experts.
What is more worth looking forward to is "cross-border integration". In the future, construction waste sorting equipment may be combined with "photovoltaic power stations" — solar panels will be installed on the top of the devices to supply power, reducing energy consumption. They may also be connected to "smart management platforms", allowing real-time monitoring of equipment operation status and construction waste treatment volume through data, so that managers can keep track of resource recycling at any time. "It's like installing a 'smart brain' for construction waste treatment, enabling more accurate planning of treatment plans."
From demolition sites to recycled building materials industrial parks, construction waste sorting equipment are using their "ability to turn stones into gold" to transform what was once "urban waste" into "recycled treasures". On the road to building "zero-waste cities", they are like dedicated "urban managers", reducing resource waste and beautifying the urban environment in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. It is believed that in the future, more such "treasure devices" will emerge, making urban development more green and sustainable.
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