Lu, W; Webster, C; Peng, Y; Chen, X and Zhang, X (2017) Estimating and calibrating the amount of building-related construction and demolition waste in urban China. International Journal of Construction Management, 17(1), pp. 13-24. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
One side effect of the unprecedented urbanization in China is the large amount of building-related construction and demolition (C&D) waste generated during the process. It is an enigma why such statistics as C&D waste generation are absent from the literature in spite of their importance to devising sensible interventions to deal with the C&D waste-related problems. This paper aims to estimate the amount of C&D waste at the country level. It does so by adopting a methodology utilizing national statistical data and the average amounts of waste generated at work sites. Furthermore, the estimation undergoes a thorough calibration against various independent sources before it can be accepted confidently. It is finally estimated that approximately 1.13 billion tons of C&D materials were generated in China during 2014, which has declined from a plateau of building activities and C&D waste generation in the early 2010s. The paper provides some useful references for devising appropriate C&D waste reduction, reuse, or recycling strategies. The paper also offers useful commentary on methodology to estimate C&D waste generation at an urban level, particularly in situations where data availability is erratic.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | calibration; China; construction and demolition waste; estimation; urbanization; waste management |
| Index terms: | statistics, estimate, urbanization, waste generation, recycling, estimation, methodology, waste management, waste reduction, China, estimating, construction and demolition, strategy |
| Subjects: | Geography, management, sustainability assessment, research methods, financial and cost management, urban planning, environmental impact, waste management, mathematical modelling |
| Topics: | Cost Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Sustainability, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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