Construction waste: Quantification and source evaluation

Bossink, B A G and Brouwers, H J H (1996) Construction waste: Quantification and source evaluation. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 122(1), pp. 55-60. ISSN 0733-9364

Abstract

A significant part of waste generation is caused by the building and construction industry. Reduction of construction waste is therefore a major topic of the integrated chain management policy of the Dutch government. Construction companies benefit from reduced waste generation by lower deposition costs and lower purchasing costs of virgin materials. An overview is presented of the main policy areas of the Dutch government concerning sustainability. Reducing the generation of construction waste fits into this policy. Subsequently, an overview is presented from construction-waste data available in literature. Then, the waste generation during several Dutch residential construction projects has been quantified and analyzed in detail. It follows that about 1-10% by weight of the purchased construction materials, depending on the material, leave the site as waste. Furthermore, the analyses identify additional sources of waste generation as those already known, such as a lack of attention paid to the sizes of the used products, lack of influence of contractors, and lack of knowledge about construction during design activities.

Item Type: Article
Index terms: construction company, purchasing, waste generation, quantification, construction waste, construction industry, residential construction, construction material
Subjects: waste management, environmental impact, organization, building materials, construction integration, industry analysis, procurement strategy, measurement and scaling
Topics: Sustainability, Procurement, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Business Strategy
Descriptive scope: 4 PCTA

N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here