Adjei, S D; Ankrah, N A; Ndekugri, I and Searle, D (2018) Sustainable construction and demolition waste management: Comparison of corporate and project level drivers. In: Gorse, C and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 34th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2018, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK.
Abstract
The need for sustainable management of construction, demolition and excavation (CD&E) waste has for some years been considered a very important requirement in the construction industry. Construction industries have responded to the calls for waste management of waste by instituting measures towards sustainably managing materials and waste to reduce the negative burden of the industry on the environment. Today, almost all main contractor organisations have sustainability policies which cover the management of waste. These policies have led to the setting up of sustainable goals and requirements as part of the management of construction projects. Research on the drivers for sustainable management of waste in the construction industry suggest that, legislation and economic concerns are the key drivers for efforts by construction companies in this regard. Through a multiple case study involving four construction companies and nine construction projects, this research qualitatively investigates the different factors that drive waste management in the construction industry at the corporate and project level. The results provide new evidence which suggest that the drivers for waste management differ between the project level and the corporate level. This suggests that a better understanding of the drivers for sustainable waste management from both the corporate and project levels can provide insights that will have the potential to positively influence the outcome of efforts towards sustainable waste management. This research makes recommendations for a better approach to sustainable CD&E waste management based on this new insight.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction project; excavation; legislation; waste management; contractor; sustainability; case study |
| Index terms: | construction industry, demolition waste, excavation, waste management, evidence, construction project, construction company, sustainable management, sustainable construction, case study, main contractor, legislation |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, sustainable construction, production management, health safety and environment, construction operations, legal systems, practitioner, waste management, organization, data collection methods, evaluation and assessment methods |
| Topics: | Project Management, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Sustainability, Roles and Professions, Legal Issues, Site Management |
| 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