Waste management strategies employed on construction sites in Gauteng
Date
2017
Authors
Sibanda, Desire
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
There is a problem of construction waste on construction sites. However, there are various
strategies that can be employed; not only on construction sites, but generally on construction
projects from the inception of the project to manage construction waste more effectively.
Construction waste management can loosely be defined as a function of controlling waste on
construction projects to limit its generation and disposal but enhance reduce and recycling.
Construction waste mainly arises from design changes, poor choice of construction materials,
improper material specifications, inappropriate strategies employed or wrong strategies
implemented; leading to poor management of waste on construction projects. Construction
waste can be ‘physical’ or ‘non-physical’.
Physical construction waste refers to tangible solid waste of materials emanating from
construction activities. Non-physical waste pertains to waste of time and project funds in the
form of unnecessary expenditure. The aim of this study is to identify waste management
strategies utilized on construction sites in Gauteng. Pertinent literature provided a basis of the
study. A cross-sectional survey using three construction sites in Gauteng: an office building
project, a road project and a civil works project was adopted. The most common strategies were
found to be –proper selection of construction materials, proper planning and logical sequencing
of construction work activities on a project. There is a variety of branded materials hence the
need for proper selection of materials. Further, there are a lot of factors that influence the flow of
work activities hence the requirement to keep track and plan activities accordingly to counter
distortions. It is acknowledged that strategies found to be common in Gauteng are basic
techniques in controlling construction waste generation and the results tied back to the literature.
It was established that technological tools like Building Information Modeling are not yet
common in Gauteng. Improvements on usage of prefabricated components and offsite
manufacturing of components is recommended to stakeholders of the construction industry. It is
also logical to conclude that waste management strategies employed on construction sites in
Gauteng are anchored on factors of economic viability and government policies. In their quest to
make projects profitable and in their efforts to make construction projects compliant to
regulations, as a result, construction contractors achieve reductions in waste generation on
construction projects. Therefore what the study found out are mainly practices that could, in
addition to achieving primary aim, contribute to waste reduction. These strategies identified are
implemented primarily to achieve time, cost and quality objectives and thus indirectly waste
reduction.
Description
Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Science (Building) in Construction Project Management to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Construction Economics and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017
Keywords
Citation
Sibanda, Desire (2017) Waste management strategies employed on construction sites in Gauteng, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/24195>