International Construction Waste Management Policies
Yashuai LI 1 and Xueqing ZHANG 2
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong; 1 liys@ust.hk and 2 zhangxq@ust.hk
ABSTRACT Construction waste frequently comprises a substantial percentage of the total waste received at the landfills in many cities around the world. To protect the environment and achieve sustainable development, efficient construction waste management has drawn more and more attention of various stakeholders especially government authorities, who are responsible of managing construction waste and have established a series of construction waste management policies, for example, landfill charging scheme and compulsory construction waste management plan. These policy instruments could be examined from three perspectives: construction waste management hierarchy, complementary policies, and parties impacted by policy instruments. An effective construction waste management policy framework should reflect the waste management hierarchy, involve as many parties in the construction waste management chain as possible, and establish instruments according to their dependency relationships.
1 INTRODUCTION Many countries are suffering from substantial amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste (referred to as construction waste in this study) although they are quite different in economic, social and cultural characteristics. Construction waste is an important source of urban waste and frequently comprises 10-30% of the total waste received at many landfill sites around the world. In Japan, 20% of the total waste came from the construction industry in 2003 (Japanese Ministry of Environment 2005a) and 70% of illegal waste dumping was related to construction activities in 2004 (Japanese Ministry of Environment 2005b). In Hong Kong, construction waste accounts for 30~40% of total waste (HKSAR 2010; Hao et al. 2008) and Hong Kong would run out of both public filling areas and landfill space within this decade with the current waste generation rate (Jaillon et al. 2009). In Mainland China, construction waste constitutes 30~40% of the total waste and is increasing quickly due to rapid urbanization and ever-increasing population (Zhao et al. 2008). In the European Union, construction waste accounts for 30% of the total waste (European Commission 2010). In the USA, construction waste constitutes 29% of the total solid waste and 35% of landfill space is taken up by construction waste (Kofoworola and Gheewala 2009). In So Paulo, the daily generation of construction waste is 17,240 tons and accounts for 55% of the total waste (Lordsleem and Fucale 1672 Construction Research Congress 2012 ASCE 2012 Construction Research Congress 2012 D o w n l o a d e d
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r e s e r v e d . 2009). Construction waste is 15-30% of all solid waste in Kuwait and more than 90% is disposed of in landfills (Kartam et al. 2004). Therefore, construction waste is an urgent issue that should be dealt with in a sustainable manner. To address the ever-increasing construction waste, most countries/regions have established a series of policies with the aim of reducing construction waste generation and finally achieving sustainable development. For example, in 1980, the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region issued the Waste Disposal Ordinance [Chapter (Cap.) 354] (EPD-HK 1980), which is the principal legal framework; established an incentive scheme for employing green and innovative building technologies (BD, LD & PD-HK 2001; BD, LD & PD-HK 2002) in 2001 and 2002; developed a practice note titled use of recycled aggregates in concrete in 2003 (cited in Hao et al. 2008) as the technical guideline; implemented the waste management plan (ETWB-HK 2003) for public construction projects in 2003; commissioned a pilot recycling plan (CEDD-HK 2004) at Tuen Mun Area 38 in 2004 with the objective of supplying recycled aggregates to a number of public projects; and enacted the landfill charging scheme (LC-HK 2005) for waste disposal in public landfills in 2005. In this paper, seven commonly used policy instruments are examined from three perspectives: construction waste management hierarchy, complementary policies, and parties impacted. Moreover, the basic principles for an effective mix of policy instruments are proposed for relevant authorities to further develop better construction waste management instruments. The rest of this paper is arranged as follows. The basic concepts of construction waste management hierarchy, construction waste management chain, and international construction waste management policies are presented in Section 2. Comparison and analysis of different construction waste management policy instruments are conducted in Section 3. Basic principles for an effective integrated construction waste management policy framework are introduced in Section 4. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Section 5.
2 PRELIMINARIES 2.1 Construction Waste Management Hierarchy Different construction waste management methods have been practiced worldwide. With respect to resource-saving and environment-friendliness, a strategic hierarchy of the generalized waste management methods in a descending order (Peng et al. 1997) is reduction, reusing, recycling, compost, incineration, and landfill. Reduction (referred to as avoidance or prevention) is the most efficient method to curtail waste generation and minimize waste disposal problems. Reusing refers to utilizing the waste materials in other applications and is viewed as the most desirable waste management method following reduction. Recycling means reprocessing materials into useable products. Compost is a process in which solid organic materials are broken down by micro-organisms in the presence of oxygen and a rich and soil-like product is generated (Australian & New Zealand Biosolids Partnership 2010). Incineration is a process that combusts organic materials and converts them 1673 Construction Research Congress 2012 ASCE 2012 Construction Research Congress 2012 D o w n l o a d e d
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r e s e r v e d . into ash, flue gases, particulates, and heat, which can in turn be used to generate electric power (Knox 2005). Landfill is the oldest waste management method that buries waste materials. In particular, reduce, reuse, and recycle, referred to as 3Rs, are the most environmently-friendly methods encouraged internationally. Ironically, landfill, regarded as the cheapest and easiest to use in reality, is the most widely-used method although it is the least sustainable one (Ashford et al. 2000).
2.2 Construction Waste Management Chain Recently, life-cycle thinking has been applied to investigate the material flow in the construction waste management chain that involves a number of stakeholders. In a typical design-bid-build construction project, an owner asks the designer to finish the design and recruits a responsible contractor through bidding. Then the owner or the designated contractor purchases construction materials (supplied by retailers or manufacturers), which are made of raw materials extracted from natural resources by raw materials suppliers. During the construction process, waste is generated in various construction activities. Such waste can be separated in the forms of reusable, recyclable, recoverable materials and residue. These materials and residue are sent by haulers to contractors, recyclers, inclination plants, and landfill respectively. Other stakeholders include government, waste management facilities managers, and environmental waste management solution companies (Mou 2008). It should be noted that most of these players take the maximum revenue as their objectives and thus the most effective policy should encourage these stakeholders to participate in construction waste management through economic instruments.
2.3 Review of International Construction Waste Management Policies A number of management instruments are established to deal with construction waste. Typical instruments include minimum recycling rate target, landfill charging scheme, site waste management plan, waste facility permit scheme, tax on raw material, product standard, and incentives for innovative green technology.
2.3.1 Minimum Recycling Rate Target (MRRT) Major purpose of this policy is to encourage source separation. Therefore, MRRT is also referred to as separate collection scheme. In particular, demolition projects are paid more attention due to the huge amount of waste generated and authorities usually require threshold recycling rates for demolition projects. Countries adopting a mandatory minimum recycling target for the construction waste include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Slovenia, the Netherlands, the USA, and Japan (Eunomia et al. 2008).
2.3.2 Landfill Charging Scheme (LCS) This scheme charges construction disposed of at landfills in order to reduce the volume of construction waste. A number of countries/regions adopted this scheme, e.g., Hong Kong (Hao et al. 2008), Ireland (ECL-Ireland 2011), Norway, and Denmark (Tam and Tam 2008). 1674 Construction Research Congress 2012 ASCE 2012 Construction Research Congress 2012 D o w n l o a d e d
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r e s e r v e d . 2.3.3 Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) SWMP motivates contractors to (1) effectively manage construction waste on sites through adequate planning, monitoring and reporting of waste and (2) reduce illegal transportation and disposal of construction waste. A number of countries/regions have this instrument, including the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, the USA, Japan, and Singapore (Eunomia et al. 2008).
2.3.3 Waste Facility Permit Scheme (WFPS) WFPS limits the number and capacity of waste treatment facilities, especially for landfills and incineration facilities. Belgium implemented a restrictive permitting policy for landfills and incineration facilities to avoid the overcapacity of treatment of mixed waste (Belgium Government 2010).
2.3.5 Tax on Raw Material (TRM) TRM is a financial measure by shifting the price differential against raw material and in favor of secondary materials in order to reduce resource extraction, increase recycling rate, and make full use of secondary materials. This instrument is adopted in Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Belgium, and Italy (Eunomia et al. 2008).
2.3.6 Product Standard (PS) PS ensures that secondary materials meet minimum quality requirements. It enlarges the secondary material market through certification of secondary materials. For example, European Standards for Aggregates were established in 2004 and a number of countries (including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and the UK) had mandated the adoption of these standards (Eunomia et al. 2008).
2.3.7 Incentives for Innovative Green Technology (IIGT) Incentives such as subsidy and financial support have been provided by some government authorities to promote the application of innovative green technologies for effective construction waste management. In particular, some government authorities have promoted use of green technologies through green procurement. In Hong Kong, Building Department, Lands Department and Planning Department (2001 and 2002) established the Joint Practice Notes 1 & 2, which grant gross floor area exemptions from building developments that employ green and innovative building technologies.
3 COMPARISON AND ANALYSIS OF POLICY INSTRUMENTS 3.1 Impacts of Policy Instruments on Construction Waste Management The above instruments emphasize on different levels of the waste management hierarchy. As shown in Table 1, (1) MRRT majorly focuses on recycling; (2) LCS promotes the adoption of other construction waste management methods by a charge on construction waste disposed of at landfills; (3) SWMP estimates the quantity and type of construction waste and requires contractors to propose different construction 1675 Construction Research Congress 2012 ASCE 2012 Construction Research Congress 2012 D o w n l o a d e d
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r e s e r v e d . waste management methods; (4) WFPS aims at reducing the amount of construction waste through controlling the number and capacity of incineration plants and landfill sites; (5) TRM and IIGT provide financial incentives to reduce the consumption of raw materials and reusing and recycling of construction waste; and (6) PS stimulates and enlarges the secondary market.
Table 1. Focus of Instruments on Construction Waste Management Hierarchy Policy Reduce Reuse Recycle Compost Incinerate Landfill MRRT LCS SWMP WFPS TRM PS IIGT
3.2 Complementary Policy Instruments Among the aforementioned instruments, some can be implemented individually while others cannot perform well without the implementation of specific instruments. For example, the predefined minimum recycling rate target will not be achieved without enforcing the landfill charging scheme, waste facility permitting scheme, and tax on raw material. The dependency relationships between these instruments are presented in Table 2. The tick in a specific cell means that the instrument in the corresponding column helps implement the instrument in the row. It can be seen that (1) MRRT is complemented by LCS, WFPS, and TRM; (2) LCS and WFPS play important roles in promoting SWMP; (3) SWMP is a complementary instrument to WFPS; (4) TRM is facilitated by PS, LCS, and IIGT. The dependency relationships can be considered from the perspective of the number of instruments influenced by a specific instrument. It is clear that (1) LCS influences the implementation of the three instruments, MRRT, SWMP, and TRM; (2) WFPS impacts the two instruments of MRRT and SWMP; (3) SWMP, TRM, PS, and IIGT support only one instrument. The number of instruments influenced reflects the effectiveness of the instrument to some extent.
Table 2. Complementary Policy Instruments (Based on Eunomia et al. 2008) Policy MRRT LCS SWMP WFPS TRM PS IIGT MRRT LCS SWMP WFPS TRM PS IIGT 1676 Construction Research Congress 2012 ASCE 2012 Construction Research Congress 2012 D o w n l o a d e d
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3.3 Parties Involved in Each Policy Instrument Many parties participate in construction waste management and parties impacted by different instruments vary with respect to individual instruments. In this study, only parties influenced directly by the instruments are taken into consideration. As shown in Table 3, in the implementation of MRRT, the contractors are directly impacted since they are subject to the recycling rate target set by authorities. In LCS, contractors pay levy for disposing of construction waste at landfills and the revenue of operating landfills are closely related to the charging level. SWMP is prepared by the contractor and monitored by the local government authority. The content of a typical SWMP includes generation and management of construction waste and a number of stakeholders (the recycler, the incineration operator, the landfill owner, and the hauler) are involved in the plan. WFPS puts direct impacts on waste management facilities including recycling facilities, incineration plants, and landfill sites. TRM charges tax on the extraction of natural resources and increases the cost of raw materials. This directly influences the business of raw material suppliers, construction material manufactures, and consequently owners. PS certifies recyclers products and enlarges the secondary market for construction material manufacturers. It also influences raw material suppliers by increasing the supply of secondary materials. IIGT employs innovative design, new green materials, and modern construction methods to achieve sustainable construction. The parties involved include contractors and designers. It is concluded that (1) contractors play the most important role in construction waste management since they could contribute directly to the implementation of four instruments; (2) landfill owners, usually local government authorities, are also important since the level of disposal fee is closely associated with contractors motivation of reducing construction waste; (3) SWMP requires participation of the most parties and should be encouraged by the authorities.
4 INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT POLICY FRAMEWORK 4.1 Chronology of Management Instruments The sequence of appearance of management instruments indicates the change of attitudes of government authorities. Table 4 shows the various instruments adopted in 1677 Construction Research Congress 2012 ASCE 2012 Construction Research Congress 2012 D o w n l o a d e d
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r e s e r v e d . different countries/regions and the timeframe. From Table 4, three observations haven been made. First, in general, countries/regions adopted LCS first and then implemented instruments that have impacts on the higher levels of the waste management hierarchy. Second, the newly adopted instruments worldwide include TBO, RFS, and GP, which tend to extend construction waste management beyond waste producers to the whole industry. Third, more and more financial instruments have been taken to deal with construction waste.
Table 4. The Chronology of Management Instruments in Some Countries (Data is extracted from Alberta Environment 2006; Eunomia 2008; European Topic Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production 2009; Hao et al. 2008; Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 2011a; Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 2011b; Pitts 1999; Tam 2008) Country/Region MRRT LCS SWMP WFPS TRM PS IIGT Belgium 1990s 1990 2004 2005 Canada 2008 1990s 1994 2006 Denmark 1990 1987 1990 2005 Finland 1993 1996 1998 France 1999 1992 2004 2005 Germany 2002 2005 Hong Kong 2005 2005 2003 2003 2001 Italy 1997 1996 2004 1997 Norway 2005 Netherlands 2001 1996 1999 2005 Spain 2004 2005 UK 1996 2008 2002 2005 USA 2001 1989 2000 2001 1998
4.2 Developing Efficient Waste Management Instrument Mix Relevant government authorities need to establish an integrated policy framework for construction waste management. In addition to considering the current situation of construction waste, it is essential to define fundamental principles for effective construction waste management. An effective framework should (1) reflect the waste management hierarchy; (2) involve as many parties as possible in the construction waste management chain; and (3) establish policies according to their dependency relationships. To improve the performance of waste management policy mix, a government authority needs to (1) Review current waste management instruments and waste management situation. The status quo of waste management is the implementation result of current waste management instruments. The review of current waste management situation will provide hints and constraints for further improvement. A set of potential improvement areas is listed as the output. (2) Identify the most desirable improvement areas. Once the set of potential improvement areas is extracting, it is time for the government authority to 1678 Construction Research Congress 2012 ASCE 2012 Construction Research Congress 2012 D o w n l o a d e d
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r e s e r v e d . decide the priority of these areas and consequently the most desirable ones are highlighted. Typical areas include increasing the publics awareness of waste management, advancing the waste management hierarchy, and enforcing the implementation of existing instruments. (3) Define a suitable policy set. A suitable policy set could be defined taking into consideration of economic, social and environmental requirements. Comparison and analysis of these instruments in the proposed policy set needs to be conducted to examine the waste management hierarchy, dependency relationships, and stakeholders involved. (4) Prepare a plan for implementing the predefined policy instruments. To ensure the effect of new instruments, a detailed implementation plan needs to take into account the aforementioned three principles.
5 CONCLUSIONS The ever-increasing construction waste becomes one of the most serious economic, social and environmental problems and an efficient construction waste management policy mix is necessary for municipal government authorities. After examining the construction waste management hierarchy pertaining to each policy, analyzing the complementary relationships between different instruments, checking the parties involved in each policy, and investigating the chronology of waste management instruments, three basic principles of an integrated construction waste management framework are identified. These principles are (1) reflecting the waste management hierarchy; (2) involving as many parties as possible in the construction waste management chain; and (3) establishing policies according to their dependency relationships.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This study is sponsored by the Environment and Conservation Fund (Grant Number: ECF Project 16/2010) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
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