Marinelli, M; Dolan, M; Spillane, J and Konanahalli, A (2014) Material waste in the Northern Ireland construction industry: On-site management causes and methods of prevention. In: Raiden, A and Aboagye-Nimo, E (eds.) Proceedings of 30th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2014, Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract
The construction industry in Northern Ireland is one of the major contributors of construction waste to landfill each year. The aim of this research paper is to identify the core on-site management causes of material waste on construction sites in Northern Ireland and to illustrate various methods of prevention which can be adopted. The research begins with a detailed literature review and is complemented with the conduction of semi-structured interviews with 6 professionals who are experienced and active within the Northern Ireland construction industry. Following on from the literature review and interviews analysis, a questionnaire survey is developed to obtain further information in relation to the subject area. The questionnaire is based on the key findings of the previous stages to direct the research towards the most influential factors. The analysis of the survey responses reveals that the core causes of waste generation include a rushed program, poor handling and on-site damage of materials, while the principal methods of prevention emerge as the adequate storage, the reuse of material on-site and efficient material ordering. Furthermore, the role of the professional background in the shaping of perceptions relevant to waste management is also investigated and significant differences are identified. The findings of this research are beneficial for the industry as they enhance the understanding of construction waste generation causes and highlight the practices required to reduce waste on-site in the context of sustainable development.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction planning; design management; recycling; waste management |
| Index terms: | interview, research paper, sustainable development, recycling, literature review, construction site, waste generation, Northern Ireland, survey, influential factor, design management, program, site management, questionnaire, waste management, construction industry, prevention, construction planning, construction waste, landfill |
| Subjects: | waste management, environmental impact, research dissemination and communication, data collection methods, risk assessment, construction planning, data analysis and analytics, construction operations, work location, design process, financial risk, health safety and environment, software systems, physical geography and landforms, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Sustainability, Cost Management, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Information Management, Site Management, Design Practice, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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