Non-market valuation of construction waste recycling: Evidence from China

Abstract

Construction Waste Recycling (CWR) has a significant non-market valuation, such as conserving land resources, improving air and water quality. However, it's valuation has not been widely explored. This study aims to reasonably estimate the CWR non-market valuation by taking Changsha, China as an example. To get more reliable and accurate estimating result, an improved Card Ladder CVM (CL-CVM) has been put forward, which included the advantages of both continuous CVM (CCVM) and discrete CVM (DCVM). Subsequently, an extra question captured the degree of uncertainty of urban residents and construction contractors regarding CWR, and influencing factors were also investigated by 1127 valid urban residents' respondents and 116 of construction contractors face-to-face. The key findings are as follows: (1) Only 12.87% of urban residents' respondents, and Only 6.90% of construction contractors' respondents wouldn't be willing to pay for CWR, and the total non-market valuation of CWR in Changsha was 124.43 billion RMB (about US $18.11 billion) in 2021. If the valuation is properly applied, it is an effective approach to attract more private sectors to participate in the CWR project; (2) The expected Willingness to Pay (WTP) for the contractor were 13.26 RMB/ton (about US$1.93/ton) for residue soil, 8.84 RMB/ton (about US $1.29/ton) for demolition and engineering waste, and 94.20 RMB/ton (about US $13.71/ton) for decoration waste. According to the result, the Construction Waste (CW) landfill behavior can be reduced by setting reasonable landfill charge through appropriate policies; (3) There were significant differences between urban residents and construction contractors in perception of CWR non-market valuation. The WTP of urban residents was influenced by sex, age, accelerated industrial development, and other factors. The WTP of construction contractors was influenced by the Health, Safety, and Environment management fee, region of project location, method of CW disposal, and other factors. The government should show a positive attitude and responsibility for CWR, so as to play an important role in leading urban residents and construction contractors. Although the study is based on the example of Changsha in China, it can also be adapted to other countries and regions as well.