Nearly half of the 36 high-rise buildings on the site have been demolished so far, with 95% of the concrete rubble reused in other constructions, according to Ballymun Regeneration Ltd’s consulting engineers Muir Associates.
Some of the stone waste which has been crushed for recycling has been used as bulk filling in a new car park at the town’s branch of Ikea, as well as for an access road to the flat-pack store.
A total of nearly 300,000 tonnes of concrete rubble will be created by the demolition of the buildings which is set to cost Euro 32m and be completed by the end of 2012.
A spokesman for Muir Associates said that the high level of cement recycling was above even government targets for construction and demolition waste recycling.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, construction and demolition waste accounted for 55% of all waste – almost 17m tonnes.
“The current downturn in construction should highlight to the industry the benefit of cost savings that can be achieved by not over-ordering materials, reducing waste generation and ensuring that waste is reused or recycled,” said the agency’s Dr Gerry Byrne.