Abstract
Hong Kong is a densely populated city with high-rise developments, and as in other metropolitan cities, the amount of waste generated from construction projects in the city is increasing annually. The capacity of existing landfills is expected to be saturated by the 2020s. Construction waste management has been implemented for years but the performance is still not satisfactory. The aim of this research paper is to explore and formulate strategies and measures for effective construction waste management and reduction in highly urbanized cities such as Hong Kong. A desktop study on construction waste management practices was carried out for a preliminary understanding of the current situation in Hong Kong. Semistructured interviews and focus group meetings were further conducted to shed light on how to improve construction waste reduction and management in Hong Kong. The main contributions of this research study are the potential short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies, which are related to the design stage, tender stage, construction stage, and government support. The five major strategies recommended are financial benefits to stakeholders, public policies in facilitating waste sorting, government supports for the green building industry, development of a mature recycling market, and education and research in construction waste minimization and management.
Highlights
Construction activities produce large quantities of solid waste daily from construction and demolition, which cause an adverse impact on our environment [1,2]
The aim of this paper is to develop and summarize short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies to improve the effectiveness of waste management for building construction projects in highly urbanized cities such as Hong Kong
Construction waste management has been implemented for years in Hong Kong, but the performance is still not satisfactory
Summary
Construction activities produce large quantities of solid waste daily from construction and demolition, which cause an adverse impact on our environment [1,2]. The collection, treatment, and disposal of solid waste, in highly urbanized cities become a difficult problem to solve [3]. Both developed and developing countries such as the United States (US) and China are running short of landfill sites and facing a challenging problem of environmental degradation caused by construction waste seeking landfill sites for construction waste [2,4]. Construction waste of Hong Kong is mainly composed of a mixture of solid inert and noninert waste generated from excavation, site work, demolition, renovation and, civil and building projects [6,7]. Hong Kong should develop and implement effective strategies to reduce and manage construction waste and handle the problem in a more environmentally responsible way [8]
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