Abstract
The Hong Kong government has implemented various measures to reduce waste, including a waste disposal ordinance, a green manager scheme, a waste reduction framework plan, a pilot concrete recycling plant, waste management systems and a landfill charging scheme. However, there are difficulties in implementing the waste management systems for contractors. This paper examines the existing implementation of waste management systems in the Hong Kong construction industry. Major sources of construction waste, awareness to install environment-friendly activities, benefits, difficulties and recommendations in the implementation of waste management systems are discussed. Questionnaire survey and structured interviews are conducted. Power spectra and bispectra of the survey data are introduced to assess the implementation of the existing waste management systems. It is found that formwork and temporary hoardings are the major sources of construction waste. Improving environmental performance is ranked as the least project scope for construction projects. “Propose methods for reducing waste” is the major benefit gained. However, “Lack of well-known effective waste management methods” is the major difficulty encountered by organisations. “Use of metal formwork”, “Use of prefabricated building components” and “Use of non-timber hoarding” are the recommended methods to improve the existing implementation of waste management systems. Santrauka Honkongo valdžia įdiegė įvairių priemonių atliekų kiekiui mažinti, įskaitant atliekų šalinimo potvarkį, žaliojo tvarkytojo planą, bendrąjį atliekų mažinimo planą, bandomąją betono perdirbimo gamyklą, atliekų tvarkymo sistemas ir sąvartyno mokesčių planą. Tačiau diegiant atliekų tvarkymo sistemas rangovams kyla sunkumų. Šiame darbe nagrinėjamos Honkongo statybų sektoriuje jau diegiamos atliekų tvarkymo sistemos. Aptariami pagrindiniai statybinių atliekų šaltiniai, žinios apie galimą aplinkai nekenksmingą veiklą, taip pat atliekų tvarkymo sistemų diegimo nauda, sunkumai ir rekomendacijos. Atliekamos anketinės apklausos ir nustatytos struktūros pokalbiai. Pasitelkus per apklausas surinktų duomenų galios spektrus ir bispektrus, įvertinamas esamų atliekų tvarkymo sistemų diegimas. Nustatoma, kad pagrindiniai statybinių atliekų šaltiniai – klojiniai ir laikinos tvoros. Aplinkosaugos charakteristikų gerinimas statybos projektuose laikomas mažiausia projekto dalimi. Pagrindinė gauta nauda – siūlomi atliekų kiekio mažinimo metodai. Tačiau didžiausias organizacijoms kylantis sunkumas – žinomų efektyvių atliekų tvarkymo metodų stoka. Gerinant šiuo metu diegiamas atliekų tvarkymo sistemas, rekomenduojama taikyti tokius metodus: metalinius klojinius, surenkamuosius statinių elementus ir laikinas tvoras ne iš medžio.
Highlights
Waste is defined as any material by-product of human and industrial activity that has no residual value (Serpell, Alarcón 1998; Ortiz et al 2010)
This paper focuses on investigating construction and demolition waste problems, examining the existing waste management approaches in the construction industry; investigating benefits and difficulties of the existing waste management systems using power spectral and bispectral methods; and recommending methods to improve sustainability of waste management systems
It is found that formwork and temporary hoardings are the major sources of construction waste with power spectral magnitudes of about 4.25 and 3.71 respectively
Summary
Waste is defined as any material by-product of human and industrial activity that has no residual value (Serpell, Alarcón 1998; Ortiz et al 2010). Over 80% of construction waste is inert, which include debris, rubble, earth and concrete, are suitable for site formation and land reclamation (Environmental Protection Department 2009). The remaining non-inert substances in construction waste, which include bamboo, timber, vegetation, packaging waste and other organic materials, are not suitable for site formation or land reclamation and are disposed of at landfills. From the statistical data of Environmental Protection Department (2009), about 23% of the waste is generated from construction and demolition activities. About 7% (about 3.27 million tones per year) of the generated construction and demolition waste is sent to landfill; majority of the construction and demolition waste (about 93%) is sent to public fill reception facilities recovered for recycling of which about 49% are recovered. The major recovered recyclable materials are plastics (about 38%), paper (about 32%), ferrous metals (about 23%), non-ferrous metals (about 3%) and others (about 3%)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
