Developing a self-sustaining secondary construction materials market in South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sustainable development has become part of Government policy across the world. In the construction industry it has been introduced through the promotion of “sustainable construction” or “green construction”. International trends show a gradual move away from wasteful construction industry practices that include high resource consumption, material wastage, inefficiencies in construction processes and a high percentage of waste that find its way to waste disposal sites and illegal dumps. This research report seeks to promote sustainable construction and waste minimisation as preferred models for achieving a balance in the economic, social and environmental impacts of development. It reviews South Africa’s construction and demolition site practice from the perspective of construction and demolition waste management, assessing waste management practice and the resultant waste disposal. To gauge South Africa’s performance it benchmarks South African practice against those of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. This approach highlights gaps in South Africa’s current practice and also provides some valuable lessons that can be used to ensure compliance with sustainable construction principles. Finally the research report proposes a framework for developing a self-sustaining secondary construction materials market in South Africa, which can prove to be a valuable tool for ensuring the absorption of sustainable construction in the construction industry.