CONSTRUCTION WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

Minaxi Rani1 , Alisha Gupta2

ABSTRACT

India is a developing country where the growth rate is increasing and side by side waste material is also
increased so there is a need of the management of waste material in India. Due to the increase in
population, IT sector, new infrastructure projects and industrialization, the construction industry has shown
very fast growth. Builders face the problem of financial difficulty due to the excessively material wastage in
construction projects. The harmful effect of the waste material is on our general environment, philosophy of
art, beauty and on our health. There are excessively wastage of material, inappropriate management of
material and low awareness about reduction and proper utilization of waste material is very common in the
local constructions sites in India. It is very economically expedient to recycling up to 80-85% of the total
amounts of construction waste by the European countries. The Recycling technologies are used by them are
very easy to apply and control the wastage of the material. There is a need to the management of the waste
material because they play very harmful role in our country, in many cities waste material management is
very big problem. There is no proper estimation of waste material in India because of the indisciplinary,
less focused on this issue and absence of regulatory and strict administration. In this paper we are
discussing about the method for the management and control of waste construction materials. The main
objective of this work is to know about the sources of waste generation in the construction industry, to study
about construction and demolition waste management, how to reduce the wastage and process of reducing
the wastage etc. With the reduction of the wastage sources of the material is also increased, demand of
increased population is also fulfilled and limited resources are also used. Additional sources of waste
generation as those already known, such as a lack of attention paid to the sizes of the used products, lack of
influence of contractors, and lack of knowledge about construction during design activities. A significant

63 | P a g e
part of waste generation is caused by the building and construction industry. Reduction of construction
waste is therefore a major topic of the todays government all over the world. Construction companies
benefit from reduced waste generation by lower deposition costs and lower purchasing costs of virgin
materials. An overview is being presented of the main policy areas government concerning sustainability.
This paper gives more focus on the importance of reduce, recur and recycle means concept of 3R for the
management of the waste material.

Keywords:- Construction Waste, Management Techniques, Demolition and Waste Management.

I INTRODUCTION

Construction and demolition waste has been defined as „wastage which are arising from construction, renovation ,
explosion activities ,surplus and damaged products and material arising in the course of construction work and on site
work. The primary method is adopted in waste handling is carried through by interviewing professionals like project
managers, architects, civil engineers, contractors and government officials like city engineers, solid waste management
officials.

The agriculture is the largest industry in India. According to the eleventh five year plan, construction is the second
largest industry after agriculture. India‟s most population skilled/semiskilled and significantly labour class unskilled is
dependent upon the construction work. Material is the major part of all types constructions projects. The success and
failure of every construction project is by and large depends on the material management. In country like India where
on one hand side the growth of development and redevelopment project has considerably increased and on the other
hand the bad impacts of construction sector on the environment is also amplified.

Today the environmental issues such as flood levels due to the illegal explosion of waste into the rivers, resources are
depletion from the earth and illegal explosion of hill slopes are evident in the metro cities. In India infrastructural
facilities are increased due to the construction, refurnishing and explosion of buildings, bridges, runways, flyover,
roads, factories, industries, hospitals and other similar formulations. The waste material generally consist of powerless,
inactive and non-biodegradable materials such as--

 Plaster
 Plastics
 Wood
 Brocken tiles
 Metals

64 | P a g e
  Excavated materials
 asphalt concrete
 Concrete rubbles
 Steels, Masonry etc.
 Wastage of Chemicals

This type of waste material is most usually seen on the road sides, communistic dustbin, occupy the land space, and
reduce the use of land and fertility of land . If we say a statement that in most of the world when we travelling a few
kilometers by road we saw huge piles of such type of waste and which is very heavily and that wastage is from the
industrial or constructions project wastage and the effect of that is traffic congestion. From that type of waste material
there is increase in floods, earthquake, and ecology imbalance, effect on the wild life, low space for living, reduction
in the land fertility and adverse affect on the environment and peoples. So there is a need of proper planning of waste
management and recycling of waste material. In India being developing countries, there is immense need of awareness
for waste management. Due to lack of awareness waste management project is not working well. From the last few
decades, European countries make excessive growth on the waste management and utilize the construction waste and
recycling that waste. Many developed countries like U.K, U.S.A., France, Denmark, Germany, Australia and Japan
have used cost-effectively attainable technologies for recycling up to 80-85 percent of waste. However India is also
doing various activities for achievement in that project but efforts are least.

II OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

 To make people aware about the wastage of materials that may be used again.
 To know about the causes of wastage.
 To know about the various techniques through which the wastage can be reduced
 To know about the suitable wastage management hierarchy.
 To study about Landfill, Recycling, Reduce and Reuse.

III SOURCES OF WASTE GENERATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

All over the world, the growth of construction industry is enormous in the past decade. The pace of generation of C&D
waste is also significant. In general, there are two sources for generation of waste materials, namely, bulk generators
and retail or small generators. The classification of sources is given in Fig 1. The infrastructure development sector
and real estate sector are the bulk generators of waste. Construction and repair of roads, bridges, flyovers etc. are
classified under infrastructure development sector. Real estate sector consists of housing, industrial, and commercial
building construction, demolition of unauthorized structures etc. Small commercial enterprises and individual house

65 | P a g e
building teams are considered as retail or small generators. The contributors of C&D waste in a project are given in
Fig 2. The project activities are to be planned at every stage by every personnel, who are involved, to minimize the
overall waste generation.

Construction industry is largest economic expenditure in India. According to eleventh five year plan, it is the second
largest economic activity after agriculture. The impact caused to the environment by Indian construction industry is
also large. Construction industry consumes high volume of raw materials and products. It generates high employment
opportunity. Based on an analysis of the forward and backward linkages of construction, the effect in the construction
on economy is estimated to be significant [2]. The boom in the economical growth in the country is attributed to the
developments in the construction industry. Investment in construction accounts for nearly 11 per cent of India‟s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP). Our construction sector is likely to continue to record a higher growth rate in the years to
come due to the Governments recent initiative to allow cent per cent foreign direct investment in real estate
development related projects. Based on the studies done by Technology, Information, Forecasting and Assessment
Council –TIFAC (2000) the total construction works in the country for the five years during 2006-2011 has estimated
to be for $847 billion. From the cost analysis of various modes of expenses in Indian construction industry, it has been
seen that the component of material cost comprises nearly 40 to 60 per cent of the project cost. The material waste
generation in construction industry is huge in monetary terms.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

66 | P a g e
Thus, cost saving potential for India is expected to be millions of dollars by adopting suitable measures for waste
management. This is particularly essential for a development that responds to the challenges of environmental
sustainability, low carbon emission and minimal resource depletion [3]. The total quantum of C&D waste generated in
India is estimated to 11.4 to 14.69 million tonnes per annum (TIFAC, 2000). The distribution of various components
of C&D waste in India is given in Fig 3. The concrete, brick and masonry together constitutes more than 50 percent of
the total C&D waste. This shows the importance of developing C&D waste management plan for these components.

IV GLOBAL SNAPSHOT OF CONSTRUCTION &DEMOLITION WASTE MANAGEMENT

Asian institute of technology of Thailand had conducted a survey in various Asian countries; Bhutan, Japan, Hong-
Kong, China, Thailand and India prepared a report regarding the construction and explosion waste management in
May 2008. [1].

The following chart shows the status of construction and demolition waste in Asian countries.

Fig- 3: Estimates of C&D Wastes in Some Asian countries (Asian Institute of Technology, „Report on reduce, reuse
and recycle (3R) practices in construction and demolition waste management in Asia‟, Thailand, May 2008)

Fig- 3

From the report of Ministry of Environment and Forest in 2008 estimated that 0.53 million tonnes/day of waste is
generated in the country. On that basis the 210 million tones of MSW are produced annually, table 1 shows the
estimate prepared by central government of India. But as per the world bank report says Asian countries produces
around about 1000kg per capita per year, it means the figure which stated by the MoEF is very less than the world

67 | P a g e
bank report figure. This show in India is underestimating the construction and demolition waste handling. The figure 2
with graphical representation shows construction and demolition waste production per day in Indian cities.

V CONSTRUCTION WASTE MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY

There is some hierarchical order for the waste management that is reduces, reuse and recycle and that is mainly related
with the production and consumption today. This hierical order is such as that of making of new product. That method
can be applied on the entire life cycle of the product that is start from the extraction of raw material, manufacture,
construction and disposal.

Reduce- First of all wastage should be find out when starting the designing process because in that process wastage
can be minimized which is generated in that stage is possible. Wastage can be reduced through reduction can be
achieved by design with standard sizes for all building materials, design spaces to be flexible and adaptable to
changing uses and design for deconstruction.

68 | P a g e
Reuse -This involves identification of waste that can be salvaged for reuse on the current project or another project or
that can be donated. A comparison of the value of the materials “as it is” for salvage and to their value as materials for
recycling may be considered prior to reuse in many cases. Some of these materials may be valuable to reuse on-site;
others may be sold to be used building material in another site or donated to a charitable organization

Recycle- After adopting all the options to prevent waste, salvage and reuse materials, the next step is to recycle as
much of the remaining debris as possible. Recycling saves money by minimizing disposal costs.

VI WASTE MANAGEMENT STARTUPS IN INDIA

Waste Management is the generation, prevention, characterization, monitoring, treatment, handling, reuse and residual
disposition of solid wastes. There are various types of solid waste including, municipal, agricultural, and special like
hazardous and household etc. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is
generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment, or aesthetics.

The initiative was first done by Waste Management Inc. in 1971. It is mainly based in North America. The major
services include the Waste, recyclables, yard debris, and hazardous materials collection, hauling, treatment and
disposal, Dumpster rental, Portable toilet rental, and security services. The company is headquartered in the First City
Tower in Houston, Texas. The company includes 367 collection operations, 355 transfer stations, 273 active landfill
disposal sites, 16 waste-to-energy plants, 134 recycling plants, 111 beneficial use landfill gas projects, and six
independent power production plants.

Today, not only abroad, but, even India has several start-ups for waste management. Here, presenting some of them:
Eco-wise: Headquartered at Noida, India. Ecowise waste management provides comprehensive waste management
services to a variety of establishments including residential, commercial and industrial entities. They ensure that, the
waste collected by them are treated and disposed in accordance with MSW Rules 2000. Ecowise is an ISO 9001,
14001 and 18001 Certifications. It is currently collecting waste from Center Stage Mall,Noida, Haldiram, ATS.,etc.

VII CONCLUSIONS

In nut shell, we can say that there is no satisfactory mechanism for control the issue of waste management. The only
reason behind that there is no separate regulatory frame work for handling that project in India. In India this project is
mixed with the other projects so there is no special focus on that project because in India the waste management is
considered only the part of Municipal Corporation.

69 | P a g e
In near future wastage of industries are very huge so there is a need to take care for that from the present. There
should be need of hiring the professional and trained people regarding that project for C&D Separation. Some informal
institutions should also be included so that the wastage can be separated according to their recue; reuse and recycling
process is possible. Charges should be collected on construction and explosions waste generators. Those technologies
which are environment friendly should be adopted for waste utilization. There should be fixation of standards that
can be used for how much % waste can be utilized. Information regarding C & D generation, legislative regarding the
waste management, regulatory framework and procedures should be known by all the public.

REFERENCES

1 Anagal Vaishali, Nagarkar Geeta, Atnurkar Kanachan and Patel anisha “Construction and Demolition Waste
management- Case Study of Pune”(2012), Twenty Eight National Convention of Civil Engineers and National
Seminar.

2. Jain M., (2012) “Economic aspects of construction waste materials in term of cost savings- A case of Indian
construction industry”, International Journal of Scientific Research Publications, 2(10), 1-7.

3. Vilas, N. and Guilbetro, B. (2007), Construction and Demolition Waste Management: Current Practices in Asia,
Proceedings of International Conference on Sustainable Solid waste Management, Chennai, India , 97-104

4. Edge Environment Pty Ltd (2011) “Construction and Demolition Waste Guide – Recycling and Re-use across
Supply Chain”, retrieved from http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/b0ac5ce4-4253-4d2b-b001-
0becf84b52b8/files/case-studies.pdf on 20.11.2013

70 | P a g e