An empirical investigation of construction and demolition waste generation rates in Shenzhen city, South China

Weisheng Lu, Hongping Yuan*, Jingru Li, Jane J.L. Hao, Xuming Mi, Zhikun Ding

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

196 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The construction and demolition waste generation rates (C&D WGRs) is an important factor in decision-making and management of material waste in any construction site. The present study investigated WGRs by conducting on-site waste sorting and weighing in four ongoing construction projects in Shenzhen city of South China. The results revealed that WGRs ranged from 3.275 to 8.791kg/m2 and miscellaneous waste, timber for formwork and falsework, and concrete were the three largest components amongst the generated waste. Based on the WGRs derived from the research, the paper also discussed the main causes of waste in the construction industry and attempted to connect waste generation with specific construction practices. It was recommended that measures mainly including performing waste sorting at source, employing skilful workers, uploading and storing materials properly, promoting waste management capacity, replacing current timber formwork with metal formwork and launching an incentive reward program to encourage waste reduction could be potential solutions to reducing current WGRs in Shenzhen. Although these results were derived from a relatively small sample and so cannot justifiably be generalized, they do however add to the body of knowledge that is currently available for understanding the status of the art of C&D waste management in China.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)680-687
Number of pages8
JournalWaste Management
Volume31
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2011
Externally publishedYes

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