From the recycling culture to the best practices

The building sector needs to pay attention to the environment because it is one of the most energy-intensive sectors; it consumes large amounts of natural raw materials and produces a large amount of waste that goes to landfill. The main materials used in construction have a mining cycle that will be exhausted in a not too long. The extraction of materials, such as sand, gravel and stones require a lot of energy consumption, and also changes the environment. There are many solutions to protect the environment, including the use of recycled materials. Urban landfills can be a waste of raw materials that are already used in other sectors and would be suitable for new purposes. This practice, born in ancient times and developed especially in Roman times, is difficult to spread today compared to the achievements with traditional materials. The aim of the paper is to show, through the analysis of pilot projects, what objectives can be achieved through the use of reused or recycled materials. This objective is to raise awareness among citizens, professionals, policymakers and construction companies to extend recovery, reuse and recycling to the construction. Examples from real buildings and data collected from research make it possible to demonstrate that recycled materials can be a real alternative to raw materials. Increasing attention to this issue could incite the promulgation of new standards for these products in order to spread their use.