A systematic approach to identify, characterize, and prioritize the data needs for quantitative sustainable disaster debris management

Abstract

Recycling and reuse are major components of disaster debris management with significant environmental, economic, and social benefits. To develop quantitative and sustainable debris management practices, a broad range of data is required. Existing studies have not comprehensively delineated the data and analysis requirements for quantitative assessment of sustainable debris management, which limits proper disaster data collection and restricts the development of approaches to efficiently quantify, characterize, and allocate disaster waste among existing and emerging debris management pathways. This study aimed to fill this gap by reviewing previous investigations to identify the data required to quantitatively assess both critical and practical aspects of sustainable disaster debris management. The literature review indicated that the most significant data for post-disaster debris management relate to i) the amount and composition of debris; ii) availability of temporary debris management sites; iii) hazards and environmental concerns; iv) economics; v) social considerations; and vi) funding policies. Considering the time-sensitive nature of different disaster debris data types, a four-phase planning framework is proposed for timely collection of data: pre-disaster, post-disaster response, short-term recovery, and long-term recovery. With significant identified data needs and finite amount of resources for data collection, particularly during post-disaster phases, social network analysis (SNA) is used to quantitively evaluate the relative importance of the data needs. Overall, it is recommended to develop comprehensive debris management inventories that aggregate diverse pre-disaster datasets, along with integrated specialized reconnaissance investigations to collect post-disaster data, most of which are identified as high priority.