The government of the Republic of Tunisia is set to construct the first construction and demolition waste recovery unit in the Governorate of Gabès, south-eastern region of the North African country.
This was made public by Chokri Ben Hassan, the country’s Minister for Local Affairs and the Environment. He said that the proposed facility will have a capacity of nearly 400 thousand tonnes per year.
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According to a recent study on the sustainable management of construction and demolition waste, Tunisia has large volumes of waste estimated at 15 million tonnes per year.
The Minister for Local Affairs and the Environment said that starting from next year, the strategy of collecting, transporting, and managing construction and demolition waste recovery will be adopted in the first stage by 30 municipalities before full-scale implementation in 2022/2024.
Advantages of construction and demolition waste recovery
The process of construction and demolition waste recovery is an integrated system that has several environmental, social, and economic advantages. First of all, it helps improve esthetic aspects, create new jobs, and boost investments.
According to the previously mentioned study, which was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the construction and demolition waste management system are seen as one of the projects with high efficiency.
Furthermore, the study showed that demolition and construction waste can be re-used in manufacturing new materials that meet technical standards, such as sidewalks, paving of agricultural tracks, etc.
Ben Hassan said that the sustainable management of this waste will help reduce arbitrary landfills, reduce the exploitation of quarries, protect natural resources and establish a culture of partnership between the private and public sectors in the country.
He also noted that it encourages private companies to get engaged in this system of upgrading waste which will help cut the cost of real-estate projects.
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