HOW TO TREAT CONSTRUCTION

WASTE ?

Construction waste is defined as fairly clean, heterogenous building materials which are
produced from the various construction activities. Construction, renovation and
demolition activities lead to the formation of waste.the construction waste poses great
danger to environment. This has put construction industries under pressure to consider
suitable methods to protect the environment across all industries including construction.

Quantity and quality of construction waste generated from any specific project would
vary depending on the circumstances and types of materials used in the project.
Recycling of construction waste is one way to counter risk to construction wastes. So,
the invention of proper technology to recycle these materials is of great importance.
Much building waste is made up of materials such as bricks, concrete and wood
damaged or unused during construction. Observational research has shown that this
can be as high as 10 to 15% of the materials that go into a building, a much higher
percentage than the 2.5-5% usually assumed by quantity surveyors and the
construction industry. Since considerable variability exists between construction sites,
there is much opportunity for reducing this waste.

The construction waste mainly consists of:

 Brick-brick wastes are generated as a result of demolition, and may be
contaminated with mortar and plaster. Brick wastes are sometimes blended with
other materials like timber and concrete. Currently, bricks are recycled by
crushing and using as filling materials.
 Concrete-concrete wastes can be generated due to demolition of existing
structures and testing of concrete samples. Commonly recycling measures of
concrete wastes are used crushed concrete as aggregate. The crushed concrete
aggregate has been used as a replacement to natural aggregate in new
concrete, and it also has been employed in the construction of road base and
trenches.
 Ferrous metal-ferrous metal is another type of wastes which not only highly
profitable but also can be recycled nearly completely. In addition, ferrous metal
can be recycled multiple times.
 Masonry-masonry waste is produced as a result of demolition of masonry
buildings. It can be recycled by crushing the masonry waste and used as
recycled masonry aggregate. A special application of recycled masonry
aggregate is to use it as thermal insulating concrete. Another potential
application for recycled masonry aggregate is to use it as aggregate in traditional
clay bricks.
 Non-ferrous metal-aluminum, copper, lead, and zinc are examples of nonferrous
materials wastes produced at construction sites. The majority of these materials
can be recycled.
 paper and cardboard-paper and paper board is another type of waste materials
which is estimated to comprise one-third construction and demolition wastes by
volume. These waste materials are recycled and reprocessed to produce new
paper products.
 Plastic-the plastic wastes are best possible for recycling if these materials are
collected separately and cleaned. Recycling is difficult if plastic wastes are mixed
with other plastics or contaminants. Plastic may be recycled and used in products
specifically designed for the utilization of recycled plastic, such as street furniture,
roof and floor, pvc window noise barrier, cable ducting, panel.
 Timber-timber waste from construction and demolition works is produced in large
quantity all over the world. Whole timber arising from construction and demolition
works can be utilized easily and directly for reused in other construction projects
after cleaning, de-nailing and sizing.
The major problems caused by construction waste are:

 Waste material is a by-product of human and industrial activity that has no

residual value.

 Need for comprehensive construction waste management in every site.

Main causes of waste during construction are:

 Steel reinforcement:steel is used as reinforcement and structural integrity in the

vast majority of construction projects. The main reasons steel is wasted on a site
is due to irresponsible beam cutting and fabrication issues because of
inadequate design details and standards, which can result in waste due to short
ends of bars being discarded due to improper planning of cuts.

 Premixed concrete:premixed concrete has one of the lowest waste indices when
compared to other building materials. Many site managers site the difficulties
controlling concrete delivery amounts as a major issue in accurately quantifying
concrete needed for a site.

 Pipes and wires: electrical and plumbing services gives the pipes and wires as
waste. Poorly designed details and irresponsible cutting of pipes and wires
leaving short results in wasted pipes and wires

Disposal of construction waste

Before construction waste is extracted, contamination from lead, asbestos or

different hazardous materials must be resolved. Hazardous materials must be disposed
of separately. It can be disposed of in either construction and demolition debris landfills
or municipal solid waste landfills. Alternatively, debris may also be sorted and recycled.
Sorting may happen as deconstruction on the demolition site, off-site at a sorting
location, or at a construction and demolition recycling center. Once sorted, materials are
managed separately and recycled accordingly.

Most guidelines on waste management follows the waste managing hierarchy

framework. This framework involves a set of alternatives for dealing with waste
arranged in descending order of preference. The waste hierarchy is a nationally and
internationally accepted concept used to priorities and guide efforts to manage
waste. The alternatives include prevention, reduction, reusing, recycling, energy
recovery, (treatment) and disposal.It is possible to recycle many elements of
construction waste.

Some certain components of construction waste such as plasterboard are hazardous

once landfilled. Plasterboard is broken down in landfill conditions releasing hydrogen
sulfide, a toxic gas. The traditional disposal way for construction waste is to send it to
landfill sites. Sending the waste directly to a landfill causes many problems such as
wastage of natural resources, reduces soil quality, causes water, soil and air pollution

Where recycling is not an option, the disposal of construction waste and hazardous
materials must be carried out according to legislation of relevant councils and regulatory
bodies..

Waste Incinerator can be used for waste management.Waste-to-energy facilities burn

more than 13% of solid municipal waste. The toxic fumes emitted by WTE plants can
contain harmful chemicals such as mercury and other heavy metals, carbon
monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and dioxins.