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Construction and Demolition Waste

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Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Solid Waste Management,
5 - 7 September 2007, Chennai, India. pp.97-104

Construction and Demolition Waste Management:

Current Practices in Asia
Vilas Nitivattananon and Guilberto Borongan

Asian Institute of Technology, Urban Environmental Management

School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand

ABSTRACT

Parallel to rapid urbanization in Asia, environmental impacts from construction and

demolition (C & D) waste increasingly become a major issue in urban waste management. As
part of building 3R Knowledge Hub (3RKH), an on-going study compiles the current status of
C & D waste in selected Asian countries in terms of technologies, practices and institutions in
relation to the application of reduce, reuse and recycle (3R) principles. The study includes the
C & D waste management in Asian countries including the corresponding instruments these
countries develop and implement. The findings are expected to assist the decision making
process in the formulation of interventions including policies for improving C & D waste
management in the region. This paper presents part of the study results with a focus on current
status of C & D waste practices of selected cases in the region. Presentation and publication of
this paper, aiming at strengthening the 3RKH, can contribute to drawing understanding the
current situation and expanding the compilation to cover more cases and aspects including
attention of additional stakeholders - especially key players in the region.

Keywords: 3R, Asian countries, Construction and demolition waste, Urban environmental
management

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The G8 Action Plan on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development: Reduce, Reuse, and
Recycle (“3R”) Action Plan and the Progress of Implementation were adopted during the G8 Sea
Island Summit in USA in 2004. The following year in 2005, the 3R Initiative was formally launched
at a Ministerial Conference in Tokyo, Japan. This initiative is in cooperation with relevant
international organizations such as OECD. Further, the World Summit on Sustainable Development
Plan of Implementation enumerated 10-year framework of programmes in support of regional and
national initiatives – changing unsustainable patterns of consumption and production. (ADB, 2006: 1,
62). UNCHS (1990) and Moavenzadeh (1994), as cited in Ofori (2000), noted that the need for giving
greater consideration to environmental issues in the context of sustainable development has been
accepted by many governments, businesses and other organizations and individuals. Governments and
authorities in urban areas have attempted to meet the demand for housing and services through
increased construction. However, lack of awareness of resource-efficient construction practices has
resulted in excessive use of natural resources and generation of large amounts of construction waste
that is rarely recycled (Macozoma, 2000 cited in UNEP , 2002: 249).

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 Construction and Demolition Waste Management: Current Practices in Asia

Data show that approximately 40% of the generated waste portion globally originates from construction
and demolition of buildings (Holm, 2001, cited in Kulatunga et al., 2006). In general, Construction and
Demolition (C & D) waste is bulky, heavy and is mostly unsuitable for disposal by incineration or
composting. This poses to waste management problems in urban areas in Asia. Particularly, those
Asian countries have a problem of land for C & D waste disposal of which C & D waste accounts in an
alarming rate as illustrated in the above discussion. Further, it also is the main contributor of environ-
mental pollution. According to US EPA (1998) definition, C&D waste is waste material produced in
the process of construction, renovation, or demolition of structures. These structures include buildings
of all types in residential and nonresidential as well as roads and bridges. Components of C&D waste
are typically concrete, asphalt, wood, metals, gypsum wallboard, and roofing.

Currently, countries in Asia have their own definition of C & D waste in terms of the components of
C & D waste in the construction industry. In some countries particularly in urban setting, the 3R
principles have already been practiced in most C&D waste management. Such countries are Japan,
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia, among
others. Also, awareness raising on C & D waste management is being practiced in some of these
countries.

This paper presents an overview and current situation of C & D waste in Asian countries focusing on
technologies, good practices, policy and management in relation to the practice of waste minimization
strategies: 3R principles. It also presents cases on the current practices of C & D waste in selected
countries including the corresponding instruments these countries develop and implement. The
information in this study has been compiled from international journals, reports and proceedings of
various waste management organizations. Certain information was also received through
communications by electronic mail and incorporated in the compilation of this paper.

The paper is part of the study results under 3R Knowledge Hub (3RKH) project which was jointly
established by partners, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT),
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP) in 2006 in Thailand. It aims to network and gather 3R
resources and expertise from all sectors in Asian region. It functions as a think tank on technology,
good practices, policy strategy and management, and issues related to the 3R, which promotes
sustainable production and consumption of limited natural resources, and improved economic and
environmental efficiency.

2.0 OVERVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICES

2.1 Policy and Institutional Aspects

2.1.1 Policies
National, regional and local governments in many countries now have policies relating to sustainable
construction. These all include a commitment to minimize the waste generated and adopt the waste
minimization strategies including 3R. This commitment is demonstrated from advanced countries like
UK, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands where key reasons for the growing realization is to
adopt non-renewable resources due to scarcity of landfill capacity or sites (Addis, 2006).

Currently, existence of regional and national policies, laws and regulations governing 3R principles
for C & D waste is minimal in Asia. Some of the policies exist and others are still in the process of
formulation. In the region, development of 3R programme is spearheaded by relevant international

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organizations (such as joint partners of ADB, UNEP, UNESCAP and others) in coordination with
different Asian governments. These activities will later on contribute to the formulation of 3R policy
in various sectors in the Asian region.

UNEP IETC (2006) initiated the Sustainable Building and Construction Initiative (SBCI) to promote
and support sustainable solutions in building and construction sector which includes the C & D waste.
Activities undertaken were EU-SE Asia and EU-China cross-learning seminars (UNEP IETC site:
http://www.unep.fr/pc/pc/SBCI/SBCI_2006_InformationNote.pdf).

In Japan (Kawano, 2003 cited in Rao et al., 2007), more than a quarter of a century of research was on
the reuse of demolished concrete, relatively little concrete has been recycled due to non-compliance
with standard. In 1991, the Japanese government established the Recycling Law, which required
relevant ministries to nominate materials that they must control and encourage the reuse and recycling
of those materials under their responsibility. The former Ministry of Construction (MOC) (now named
Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Road) nominated demolished concrete, soil,
asphalt concrete, and wood as construction by-products.

Most of the countries (including PR China, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam) do not have
specific regulations designed for C & D wastes, although some countries include some sections in
their solid waste management regulations and/or related policies.

2.1.2 Institutional Arrangements

IGES (2006) highlighted the promotion system for addressing the 3R, and noted that in almost all
developing countries, legal systems regarding the 3R have yet to be established. It also elaborates the
insufficient institutional capacity to support 3R measures which is a common issue for all developing
countries to address.

Waste management policy making is relatively decentralized in Hong Kong. The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) and the Environment and Food Bureau (EFB), are responsible for the
policy formulation and implementation. Statutory non-government authorities such as the Legislative
Councils, the Housing Authority and task oriented non-statutory bodies such as the Advisory Council
on the Environment and Waste Reduction Committee all have a role to play in waste policy
formulation and implementation. There is however, no public body with the remit to systematically
formulate and implement waste and environmental education policies in Hong Kong. Other Asian
countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, and China practice 3R principles on C & D waste but
institutionalization has not been established.

2.1.3 Procedures
Procedures for the management of C & D waste is mostly practiced in developed countries in Asia.
Practitioners in developing countries in Asia need to put up initiatives in the construction industry to
practice better management of C & D waste.

Urban environmental management in the construction industry has been growing rapidly in some
countries in Asia. Attaining towards sustainable development, some countries take efforts towards
practicing environmental management system (EMS). Research in Singapore and Hong Kong SAR
highlighted that C & D waste imposes an environmental burden. Construction industry has one of the
highest resource uses and responsible for waste pollution. Some international and local construction
industries in Singapore have already adopted the structured approach for improvement of the

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 Construction and Demolition Waste Management: Current Practices in Asia

environmental performance of construction by ISO 14000 EMS (Ofori, 2000). Another case in Hong
Kong where the local industry has been promoting measures such as establishing waste management
plans, reduction and recycling of construction and demolition wastes, providing in-house training on
environmental management, and legal measures on environmental protection.

2.2 Technologies
Hong Kong extensive and infrastructure development programme has led to a significant increase in C
& D waste generation in the last decade. According to EPD, of the total amount, 21% was disposed at
landfills while the other 79% was disposed at public filling areas as a reclamation material
(Environmental Protection Department, 2000 cited in Poon, 2003).

Eguchi et al. (2007) developed production method for recycled concrete to be used for building,
which is different from that proposed by the MOC of Japan (the Comprehensive R&D Project
method). The findings obtained are summarized as follows: recycled concrete aggregate produced by
a simple assembled system of equipment and improvement of recycling ratio of the concrete blocks;
performance quality of parameters such as replacement ratio, compressive strength and elastic
modulus, among others has relative quality value.

2.3 Practices
2.3.1 Stakeholders
3R principle should be addressed by the key parties in the construction industry: clients (including
funders), designers, contractors, labourers and suppliers (Addis, 2006). For example, clients can lay
down environmental criteria and so determine the conditions under which projects are implemented.
In doing this way clients can influence other key players to facilitate 3R; designers can reduce
resources used in construction, aid site waste minimization through appropriate design, and influence
the use of reclaimed materials; constructors can minimize the volume arising on site, use reclaimed
materials in the works and influence wastage caused by poor materials handling; and suppliers can
encourage the use of reclaimed materials and influence wastage caused by excessive packaging.

In Indonesia, construction managers, client, consultants, suppliers, foremen and laborers are the
stakeholders involved in construction industry. Commitment and involvement of all project
participants are highlighted for waste minimization. Also, it noted that all construction personnel need
to be kept informed of construction progress such as project time and cost targets using information
display for construction monitoring purposes (Alwi, et al., 2002).

According to Rameezdeen (2006), key stakeholders in the construction industry can be categorized
into direct (such as client, consultant and contractor) and indirect stakeholders (finance institutions,
material manufacturers and suppliers. Client initiates the project; finances the project; and directly and
indirectly monitors the progress, time, cost, and quality and command any variations to the design
during design and construction phase. Private sector such as individuals: investors in housing,
commercial and industrial and organizations: sole proprietors/partnerships/Ltd. liability companies.
Another type is public sector, such as Central government, Ministry (Highway, Health, and Housing),
Department Authorities, Local government authorities, among others.

In Hong Kong, key stakeholders involved in the construction industry are director, engineers, quality
manager, site manager, safety manager, environmental manager, contracts manager and workers.
Many construction industries are now just starting to realize the importance of environmental
management due to increasing pressure from environmental violations and governmental regulations.

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 Sustainable Solid Waste Management

It is also important to also note that participation of NGO’s and members of society is evident in the
waste sector, particularly in the C&D waste.

2.3.2 Indicators
Although the general construction waste found in the site bound is diverse, the vast majority of
material to be found (by volume) in an average bound/area on a building site is generally bricks and
blocks, timber, and packaging (both cardboard and plastic) (Coventry, 2001). Composition of general
C&D waste is measured by volume which is one of the indicators of C & D waste in Asian countries.

Japan uses the indicator resource productivity of all general solid waste. This is defined as the ratio of
the GDP and the direct material input. Another indicator considered by Japan is the amount of final
disposal amount. These indicators along with targets are used for policy making purposes.

A study in Sri Lanka demonstrates seven selected indicators in C & D waste. These are: salaries, value
added, expenditure, services, raw materials consumed, value of work done and value of contract.

For the overview of current practices in the region, Table 1 provides some of major initiatives in C&D
waste management.

3.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Currently, existence of regional and national policies, laws and regulations governing 3R principles
for C & D waste is minimal in Asia. However information compiled from some countries in different
sub-regions in Asia and different stages of development, presented in this paper, provides examples
and baseline data on current status in terms of policy and institutional, technological, and practical
aspects. The information that are mainly missing from this paper requiring additional efforts from
more sources include: amount and quality of C&D waste generated, more information on practices
including technologies used in managing C&D waste in specific countries and local conditions, and
organizations having major role in managing C&D waste in some countries. This is expected to assist
the policy and decision makers in the region by identifying challenges and opportunities in order to
develop specific strategies from the application of 3R principles based on specific conditions of Asian
countries.

C&D waste management strategies particularly the 3R should perhaps be lobby to urban areas in Asia.
This requires coordination and cooperation with the involvement of local, national and regional
governments to channel the pressing issue of environmental management and its innovative solutions
and strategies to the C&D sector. The construction sector may be committed to reducing waste in their
management by applying waste minimization strategies and may implement efficiently enabling to
achieve sustainable development in respective countries in Asia. Stakeholder participation, waste
minimization strategies, adopting adequate environmental measures related to 3R, policy formulation
and efficient implementation of C & D waste management, and capacity building should be taken into
consideration in the Asian countries.

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 Table 1. Summary of C & D Waste Management in some Selected Asian Countries
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Strategies and
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Construction and Demolition Waste Management: Current Practices in Asia

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