international journal of science and engineering research ... · and the wastage level in ......

International Journal of Science and Engineering Research (IJ0SER),

Vol 3 Issue 5 May -2015 3221 5687, (P) 3221 568X

Sasidharani,Jayanthi…. (IJ0SER) May - 2015

Material Waste Management In Construction Industries 1B.Sasidharani,

2 R. Jayanthi

1 ME (Construction engineering and Management), 2Asst.Professor,

RVS Technical Campus, Coimbatore Tamilnadu,India.

Abstract-The construction industry plays an important role in establishing the infrastructure required for socio-economic

development. It is one of the biggest environmental polluters and it also consumes large quantities of raw materials. And also it is

generate large amount of construction waste. Generation of construction waste constitute a major impact to the environment. The

awareness among contractors and builders regarding waste minimization is still low although various research have proved the

environment problems are getting more critical. This study is conducted to investigate the cause of waste, waste prevention method

and the wastage level in construction site. There are three concepts to manage the waste. They are reduce, reuse and recycle

(3R).Reduce is the most significant method for construction waste minimization. Targeting the potential areas for waste

generation in construction projects can help to significantly reduce the quantity of construction waste created. A structured

questionnaire survey was conducted to provide empirical evidence on levels of significant contribution of waste minimization

measures to waste reduction, and levels of practice of same measures using weighted average and coefficient of variation criteria.

The questionnaire is designed based on the attributes for material waste. Based on the study, suggestions for waste reduction in

construction sites are made. The study was conducted using a structured survey questionnaire. Waste attributes that lead to wastes

generation on building projects were identified and they include: Design and documentation attributes; Site management and

practices; Procurement attributes; Materials handling, storage and transportation; Operational attributes and Environmental and

other conditions. T-test statistical technique of comparing means was used in the analysis of data with SPSS version 12.0 software to

determine the major construction waste generation attributes. The study revealed that Changes made to the design while

construction is in progress; Improper material management over allowance Inappropriate and wrong storage facilities at site

leading to damage or deterioration; errors by tradesmen; and Severe weather conditions were the leading significant factors each in

their respective categories of waste generation. Adequate storage of material is one of the significant minimisation measures. A

simple construction waste management system that can provide data on waste quantities, identify areas that are problematic in

waste generation, and be able to analyse the causes of these wastes is recommended. The use of prefabrication of building elements

was thought to be very beneficial for resource efficiency/waste minimisation.

INTRODUCTION

The environmental implication of activities is now

well known. The construction sector is to be generating

unacceptable level of material waste generally construction

activities which lead to produce wastage can be grouped into

offsite and onsite operational activities. Off-site activities include mining and manufacturing of material and

components, transportation of material and components ,land

acquisition, storage place and project design. on-site

construction activities relate to construction are planning,

design and physical facility.

Both off-site and on-site activities generate pollution

under the categories of ecology, landscape, traffic, water, energy, limber consumption, noise, dust, sewage and health

and safety hazards. On the other hand, it also generates

severe impacts on the environment. Problems related to

environmental performance concern environmental problems

associated with construction activities. The construction

industry is associated with high energy consumption,

resource depletion, and a large amount of waste generation

.The industry is one of the biggest environmental polluters .

The construction industry also consumes large quantities of

raw materials. In order to manage such a huge quantity of

construction waste,Various studies in the construction

industry have developed best practices that are not only capable of improving organization‟s profit but also assist in

producing systematic work processes which encourage the

optimal use of resources.There are two types of construction

waste:

Inert construction waste

Non-inert construction waste

Inert construction waste is around 20% of the total

and usually comprises bamboo, timber, vegetation, packaging

waste and other organic materials. Some of these can be

recycled while others are disposed of at landfills. In contrast,

90% are inert waste - otherwise known as public fill - mainly

includes construction debris, rubble, earth, bitumen and

concrete, which can be used for land formation. Materials like concrete and asphalt can also be recovered for

construction use. Waste accounts for approximately 25% -

30% of all waste generated and consists of numerous

materials, including concrete, bricks, gypsum, wood, glass,

metals, plastic, solvents, asbestos and excavated soil, many of

which can be recycled. According to the Environment

protection department (EPD, 2000) in Hong Kong , 20% of

waste material was disposed of to landfills while the

remaining 80% was disposed to public filling area in Hong

Kong. Waste occurs on site for a number of reasons, most of

which can be prevented, particularly by changing the

attitudes of the construction workforce. Therefore, the attitude and perception of the construction workforce can

influence the generation and implementation of waste

management strategies.

In Construction waste management three concept

are important. They are recycle, reuse and reduce. Materials

can be recycled directly into the same product for reuse.

Others can be reconstituted into other usable products.

Unfortunately, recycling that requires reprocessing is not

usually economically feasible. Hence minimization of waste

is the significant method.


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The initial step in a construction waste reduction

strategy is good planning. Design should be based on

standard sizes and material should be ordered accurately.

Additionally, using high quality materials such as engineered products reduce rejects. This approach can reduce the amount

of material needing to be recycled and bolster profitability

and economy for the builder and costumer.

OBJECTIVES OF WASTE MANAGEMENT

The aim of this research verified the casuses of

construction, proposing appropriate waste prevention method

to the contractors to implementin the construction project.The

main objective of material waste management is to reduce the

material waste in on-site and off-site.

i. To identify the causes of material waste in construction.

ii. To suggest the waste prevention methods in

construction.

iii. Identifying importance of waste

recognition, barriers to implement waste

management and existing waste re-

ductiontechniques/strategies followed in

construction industry.

iv. To create an economical project by

minimizing the materials.

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT Scope of the study is todetermined the facilitate of

literature review, by focusing on certain field in literature

review and data collection process. This study covers:

i. Data of wastage level is collected base on

percentage;

ii. Wastage occurs on site;

iii. Focus on inert material waste in construction

such as – concrete, cement, sand, timber, steel,

plastic, glass, bricks, tiles and bamboo.

NEED FOR STUDY

The importance of the study is arising awareness of

contractors , engineers and site workers regarding to the waste management, which the effectiveness of

implementation of waste management into construction

project lead to construction cost and bad effects towards

environment.

The reduction of construction waste not only yield significant

benefit‟s to the environment, but also reducing cost of

construction.

It is absolutely imperative for the construction industry adopt

ecologically sound planning and construction practice for the

purpose of creating a healthy and sustainable built

environment.

GENERAL

Construction waste is defined as:

Any substance or object that you discard, intend and discard, or are required to discard is waste and as such is subject to a

number of regulatory requirements. Even if material is sent

for recycling and undergoes treatment in-house it can still be

waste. The term is discard has a special meaning, whether or

not a particular material is waste is for person producing it to

decide in accordance with the law.

Classification of Construction Waste

The waste in construction can be generated due to

many cause and situations.the following classification

consider all these factor to group the construction waste

forms of occurrence of it.

Waste according to the type of resource consumed

According to the consumed resource, the waste can

be classified in physical and financial waste as shown in

Figure 2.1 (Andrade, 1999). This classification considers the

following examples:

Physical waste of materials: additional

amount of material relative to the one

specified in the project;

Physical waste of man-hour: men hours

increased due to the delay in the arrival of

materials and overproduction;

Physical waste of equipment: equipment

hours increased in function of the problem

cited for the man power;

Financial waste in result of the physical

waste: determine the costs associated with

the physical waste;

Financial waste in result of material

purchase: relative additional cost to the use of a material with superior value of the

specified one.

Figure-Waste according to the type of resource consumed(source: Andrade 1999)

Waste according to its nature

According to Golkulnath and Janani(2013), there are

two types of waste i) direct waste related to, the Waste that

can be prevented and involves the actual loss or removal and

replacement of material”.Direct waste can be occurred at any

stage of the construction process before the delivery of

material to the site and after incorporating the materials at the

building ii) indirect waste related to the material does not get


Vol 3 Issue 5 May -2015 3221 5687, (P) 3221 568X


waste physically, but the payments for the material are

wasted partly or wholly. The indirect waste are characterized

by materials that are used in excess in the building, for

example:

TABLE - Indirect Waste

Category Reason Example

Substitution

waste

Substitution of materials

in work, which will incur

losses to either contractor

or client

Use of facing bricks

for common bricks

Production waste Contractor does not

receive any payments for

the work he has carried

out

Use of excess

plastering to rectify the

un- even surfaces of

brick walls

Negligence waste Site errors because of the

condemned work or use

of additional material

Over excavation of

foundation, resulting

in the use of additional

concrete

Operational

waste

Unavailability of proper

quantities in the contract

document / the material

that are left in the site

Formwork

The direct waste corresponds to material damaged during the

execution or rest of materials. They have some forms of

occurrence according to the andrade (1999)

Table -Direct waste

Category Reason example

Delivery waste waste During the transportation

of material to the site,

unloading, and placing in to the

initial storage

Bricks,

glasses

Cutting and convention-

al waste

Cutting materials in to various

sizes and uneconomical shapes

Formwork,

tiles

Fixing waste Dropped, spoiled or discarded

material during fixing

Bricks,

roof tiles

. Application and

residue waste

Damages occurs by succeeding

trades

Painted

surfaces

Criminal waste Theft and vandalism Tiles,

Cement

bags

Management waste Lack of supervision or

incorrect decisions of the

management

Throwing

away

excess

material

Waste according to its control

Considering the possibility of controlling or

reducing the index of waste detected, the waste is classified

in two categories (Paliari, 1999): (i) avoidable or (ii)

unavoidable. The unavoidable waste is the one that the

necessary investment for its reduction is superior to the

economy obtained. Generally, this waste category represents an acceptable level of waste that its factors escape to the

control of the builder, depending on the development of each

company. On the other hand, is the one that its reduction is

economically viable because the cost of waste is significantly

higher than the cost to prevent it. According to Santos et al.

(1996) the avoidable waste is consequence of a process of

low quality, in which resources are used inadequately. Figure 2.2 shows the actual situation in which there is a significant

amount of avoidable waste and non value-adding activities

and the desired situation in which there is only unavoidable

waste and value-adding activities.

Waste according to its origin

Although waste is typically identified throughout the

production phase, also it can be originated by processes that

go before production such as: materials manufacturing,

design, materials supply, and planning. Examples of waste

that can occur in the different stages of the construction are:

Use of a smaller space between the studs in relation to

the considered correct standards or the extreme breaking of blocks during the execution, for example, can have

origin in the lack of modulation (conception phase);

Lack of necessary material in the moment of execution

(planning);

Low quality components (acquisition);

Cement mortar production in superior amount that the

one that will be used in the day of work or the use of

inadequate techniques (execution phase);

Repainting the building after one year of use, to modify

the color of the facade,when, in durability terms, it could

be done every 3 years (maintenance phase).

The execution phase, the most exploited in this study, is

related to the course of the material as shown in Figure 2.3,

since its arrival to the jobsite until becoming part of an

executed product. Such course is, generically: (i) act of

receiving, (ii) stocking, (iii) transporting, (iv) intermediate

processing, and (v) application, on which losses can happen.

According to Santos et al. (1996), during the construction execution, the following examples can be pointed: real

weight of the bags lesser than the specified one (act of

receiving); rotten lumber due to humidity (stocking); bigger

cement consumption per CY of concrete (intermediate

processing); material that falls in the soil (transporting); and

over thickness (applying).

Figure -Waste according to its origin (source: Formoso et al.,

1996)


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Types of Material Waste

Construction waste is defined as waste which arises

from construction, renovation and demolition activities

including land excavation or formation, civil and building

construction, site clearance, demolition activities, roadwork,

and building renovation. However, some defined directly to

solid waste: the inert waste which comprises mainly sand,

bricks, blocks, steel, concrete debris, tiles, bamboo, plastics,

glass, wood, paper, vegetation and other organic materials.

This type of waste consists a complete loss of materials, due

to the fact that they are irreparably damaged or simply lost.

The wastage usually removed from the site to landfills.(SasitharanNagapan, Ismail Abdul Rahman and Ade

Asmi 2012)

Cause of Waste Materials

The objectives of this study were to identify the major attributes of construction wastes on building projects in

Uganda and to propose the possible measures of minimizing

their occurrences. Waste attributes that lead to wastes

generation on building projects were identified and they

include: Design and documentation attributes; Site

management and practices; Procurement attributes; Materials

handling, storage and transportation; Operational attributes

and Environmental and other conditions. Approximately 40%

of the waste generated globally originates from the

construction of buildings.

Design and documentation attributes : Changes

made to the design while construction is in progress mean

4.02 , Selection of low quality products 3.13, Errors in the

contract documents 3.04, Incomplete contract documents at

commencement of the project 3.04, Lack of information in

the drawing 3.02, Lack of attention paid to dimensional

coordination of products 2.98, Designer‟s inexperience in

method and sequence of construction 2.92, Complexity of

detailing in the drawings 2.90, Lack of attention paid to the standard sizes available on the market 2.54, Designer‟s

unfamiliarity with alternative products 2.51, Waiting for

design documents and drawings 2.46.

Site management and practices : Changing

orders/instructions by supervisors 3.70, Improper planning

3.56, Lack of waste management plan 3.43, Lack of

supervisions and delay in inspections 3.33, Lack of quality management system aimed at waste minimization 3.31, Poor

communication coordination between parties involved in the

project. 3.13, Slow decision making by the site management

3.10, Poor site layout 3.09, Ineffective control of the project‟s

progress by the constructor 2.83, Lack of technical

professionals in contractor‟s organization. 2.81.(L. Muhwezi ,

L. M. Chamuriho and N. M. Lema 2012)

Material Wastage Level in Construction :

Construction waste is generated throughout the construction

process such as during site clearance, material use, material

damage, material non-use, excess procurement and human

error. The exact quantity and composition of construction

waste generated throughout the projects are difficult to be

identified as they are keep on changing due to the dynamic

nature of the construction activities. Different stages of

construction generates different types and composition of

waste. Therefore the trend of waste generated throughout the construction stages need to be identified., this paper propose

a method to quantify waste for conventional construction.

The proposed method comprises four steps. First is

identification of construction stages and expected waste

generated. Second is selection of construction sites with

similar characteristics for uniform investigation. Third is

sorting and weighing of mixed waste collected in a dumpster.

The last step is summation of the recorded quantity.

Considering the wastage of materials, the theoretical quantity

should be increased by using following formula

Total quantity of material to be provisioned

= theoretical quantity of materials x (100+standard waste)/100

Wastage depends on nature of work , type of materials,

method of application.

Wastage be controllable and uncontrollable.

Table -Expected Waste Generated From Conventional

Construction

No Construction

stage

Expected major

construction waste

1 Site clearance Soil, rock

2 Sub-structure

works

Reinforced concrete, steel

bar, concrete, wood

3 Super-structure

works

Wood, steel bar, cement,

sand, aggregate, brick

4 Finishing works Cement, sand, aggregate,

tile, paint,lime

5 Infrastructure

works

Bitumen materials, timber,

concrete

Calculation of Waste Generated According to Each Stage of

Construction.

C = W/GFA

where: W = total waste generated from each construction

stages of the project (tonne) GFA = gross floor area C =

waste generation rate (i.e. construction of 1 m2 gross floor

area generates C tonne of waste)( Siti Akhtar Mahayuddin and Wan AkmalZahri Wan Zaharuddin 2013)

According to Patel MitulNarendrakumar Pandya Minarva,

The component of materials waste cost comprises nearly

40%-60%.The weight of construction waste are Soil, Sand,

and Gravel 4.20-5.14 million tones/years, Bricks and

masonry 3.6-4.4 million tonnes/year Concrete 2.4-3.67

million tonnes/year Metals 0.60-0.73 million tonnes/year Bitumen 0.25-0.30 million tonnes/year Wood 0.25-0.30

million tonnes/year Others 0.10-0.15 million tonnes/year.

Waste Prevention Methods


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Currently there are not any type of practices adopted

for managing construction waste in India. Only for

contractors and builders with the help of their experiences

and previous data, during operation of the project itself, are concerned about material waste but not from the early stage

of the project. The waste management in construction have

three concept(3R). Defined waste minimisation as a set of

three options prioritized according to the waste hierarchy.

The first priority is waste prevention; the second is waste re-

use while the third priority is waste recycle. Reducing the

waste generated at source is considered as the first option to

be implemented for better protection of the environment, and

for better economic savings.(Ayarkwa, J, K. Agyekum and E.

Adinyira, 2013)

SWMP help to manage the materials and provide an incentive

to waste prevention/minimisation. A SWMP sets out how

resources will be managed and waste controlled at all stages

during a construction project.

A SWMP covers:

Who will be responsible for resource management.

What types of waste will be generated.

How the waste will be managed – will it be reduced,

reused or recycled?

Which contractors will be used to ensure the waste is

correctly recycled or disposed of responsibly and

legally.

How the quantity of waste generated by the project

will be measured

The most frequent measures practiced to minimise

material waste are: staff training; adequate storage; and just-

in time delivery of materials. Waste measurement and waste

segregation are areas that need more efficient implementation

to achieve material waste minimisation targets. Moreover,

contractors‟ perceptions towards the benefits of material

waste minimisation revealed that this waste is primarily

considered a financial problem and its minimisation a cost

cutting activity.. A review of the literature suggests the following measures as the main solutions for efficient

prevention of material waste on construction sites

areLogistics management, Supply chain management (SCM),

Modern construction methods, Training and incentivising.

Fig :Waste Hierarchy

The main direct causes of material waste in the UAE

construction sites are: workers' lack of awareness; poor

design resulting in excessive off-cuts; and the rework and

variations. In contrast, the factors emanating from poor

logistics management and procurement problems were

considered as being of low significance. 2. The indirect causes of material waste were found to be the lack of legal

and contractual incentives. 3. The current practices

implemented by contractors to minimise material waste on

construction sites are: adequate storage, staff training and

awareness, and „just- in time‟ delivery. 4. Material waste

recycling is rarely practiced. In addition, waste measurement

and waste segregation are two practices that need to be

implemented more efficiently in UAE construction sites. (Al-Hajj, A., &Hamani, K. 2011).

Reuse and recycling are usually treated together in

the literature. Both of these two practices require a separation

of waste streams in order to be accomplished (CIRIA, 1995).

In fact, the good practice of waste minimisation involves

segregation of key waste streams namely: timber,

plasterboard, packaging, general waste, inert waste, metal and

hazardous by using clearly labelled skips or bins (Wrap,

2007b). Once the waste material is segregated, the

possibilities of reuse or recycling on-site must be investigated

before considering any off-site recovery or disposal (DEFRA, 2008).

The chronic problems of construction include low

productivity, low quality, poor co-ordination and high costs.

High product cost is also associated with poor quality,

inefficiency and high waste generation. A structured

questionnaire survey was conducted to provide empirical

evidence on levels of significant contribution of waste minimization measures to waste reduction, and levels of

practice of same measures using weighted average and

coefficient of variation criteria. Purchasing raw materials that

are just sufficient(mean 4.96), using materials before expiry

dates(mean 4.88), and using more efficient construction

equipment(mean 4.42) are perceived by construction

professionals as three of twenty-six measures which most

significantly contribute to waste minimization, and also the

three most practiced waste minimization measures in Ghana.

Encouraging re-use of waste materials, use of low

waste technology and recycling of waste materials on site are,

however, considered as the three least significant measures

contributing to waste minimization and also least practiced.

Among various suggested recommendations, the construction

industry is encouraged to sort and re-use waste materials, and

adopt environmentally friendly and low waste technologies

on site. (Ayarkwa, J, K. Agyekum and E. Adinyira2013).

Value Engineering originates from the

manufacturing industry in order to deliver higher value and

quality to a product by means of an increase in efficiency.

„Lean Construction‟ (LC) concepts emerged as a

consequence of the application of VE philosophy,

specifically for construction industry. LC extends from the

objectives of a lean production system – to maximize value

and to minimize waste – in relation to specific techniques and

then applies them conceptually in a new project delivery

process. The aims of this paper are to present practical


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examples of the application of Value Engineering and Lean

Construction concepts within a green building construction

project and to qualitatively assess its benefits in terms of

environmental impact and waste minimization.

Meanwhile, the adoption of prefabrication

construction methods, intelligent excavation works, „Reduce-

Reuse-Recycle‟ principles, and simple „environmentally-

aware‟ on-site practices can minimize the waste produced

and the local environmental impact emitted during project

execution.(Ferry Firmawan,Fadil Othman, KhairulzanYahya

2012)

The construction workers to implement the reusing,

recycling and reducing construction materials, reward scheme

is used for measuring the results in the implementation and

encouraging the practices of it. Furthermore, with the

proposing landfill-charging scheme for the construction

environment, contractors will push to reduce the waste

generated by training and education. This paper examines the

cost benefit for the organization, in which to encourage the

workers by Stepwise Incentive System (SIS) for measuring the cost saving on purchasing material and waste generation.

It proved that SIS can help reduce wastage generation up to

23.60%.(Dr. Vivian W. Y. Tam 2006)

According to Branz study report, “define at least

two critical influences that can lead to more resource efficient

construction (reduced generation of waste material) To find

these critical influences, a survey was carried out based on a survey conducted in a similar construction environment.

From the results, the following critical influences were

identified:

There is very little importance placed by architects

on waste minimisation. In association with this there

is a lack of operational material waste minimisation

plans and strategies.

Architects and quantity surveyors think that creating a buildable design that allows for a logical sequence

in construction and avoids variations on site

minimises the amount of waste material generated.

Architects believe that accurate and integrated

project information and making waste reduction

efforts financially beneficial to the client, help

mitigate waste production.

CADD is seen by architects as a waste generator

rather than a waste reducer, both in terms of

materials (paper generated) and time (for all but

repetitive design).

Contractors cite the use of standardised forms (both

in the room and material sizes), so that cutting sheet

materials to fit can be reduced, as the most

important factor in reducing waste.

The most two critical issues are CADD and

prefabrication. Computer-aided drafting and design was not

seen to be important to most architectural practices because of its limited application, due to its slowness as a tool and

restricted applicability. CADD has greater application to

larger practices/repetitive work. Costs were the number one

reason for firms not using CADD. The use of prefabrication

of building elements was thought to be very beneficial for

resource efficiency/waste minimisation, by all the telephone

interviewees.The last result – on the use of prefabrication.(Roman Jaques 1999).

The widespread of prefabrication and IBS is

expecting to be important means of reducing waste. Concrete

and aggregate, soil and sand and brick and blocks are the

largest components of waste materials and this finding is

consistent in several researches. However, the proportion

differs among the components. A huge difference is found

between total waste generated in conventional project and IBS or prefabricated project and this finding is proven

consistent in several studies. As an effort to reduce material

waste, the largest components of waste appear to have

highest frequency of reusing and recycling .(KhorJie Cheng,

MdAzreeOthumanMydin 2014)

METHODOLOGY

Waste minimisation means reducing the amount and

environmental impact of waste generated, which can be

achieved by reducing the quantity of materials used (and

therefore potential for wastage) or by reusing existing

materials. Prevention of the waste means the effective use of

natural resources; energy needed to manufacture new

materials as well as reducing pollution.

This study are going to be conducted following

planned arrange that provides direction to search out the

solution of the study queries. A study methodology is

planned by stage in step with their priorities perform and

performance and function so as to assure the effectiveness of

the work. The 5 stages embrace preliminary stage, reviewing

literature, assembling knowledge, analysing knowledge and

drawing conclusion.

Following are totally different phases that are used

for the analysis study over this topic:

Identify the problems due to waste generation in

construction industries.

Establish the objectives and scope of the project.

Studying the causes of waste which contributes for

generation of those construction waste and waste

minimisation methods by literature survey.

Preparation of questionnaire survey

Formulating questionnaires and validating, data

collection by questionnaire survey.

Personal interviews are conduct with site engineers and

managers.

A detailed intensive studying of waste minimisation by

case study.

Analysing the collected data.

Discussion and interpretation of result.

Conclusion, recommendation and suggestions.


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METHOD OF SURVEYING

The empirical study involves a structured questionnaire,

administered via convenience sampling technique to

construction professional in selected building firms. Also

personal interviews will be conduct with construction

professionals. Identify the cause and minimisation measures

of material waste in construction industries by literature

survey.

This study has taken definition of construction waste

and cause of waste in literature. Based on literature survey

the questionnaire is formed. This means that the targeted

organizations can supply the required information for the

study.

Questionnaire Design

A structured questionnaire includes questions on the

respondent‟sorganization‟s profiles andthe identified waste

variables which had common features were grouped together

under the following categories: a) Design and documentation;

b) Site management and practices c)Procurement; d)

Materials handling; storage and transportation; e) Operational attributes;- measured on a 5-point Likert scale where 1

represents Strongly Agree, 2 is Agree, 3 is Neutral, 4 is

Disagree and 5 is Strongly Disagree; minimization measures

adopted by the firms via open-ended questions; the

contributions of the control techniques to waste minimization

measured on a 4-point Likert scale; and the contribution of

materials waste minimization to projects‟ outcome measured

on a 5-point Likert scale. Mean, ranking and frequency were

used to analyse the data.

Design and documentation

In this categories, Waste can be as a result of inadequacies of

design, specifications, the lack of cognizance of stock or

standard manufactured sizes of materials/or products on

market and errors in documentation.The waste arises at the

construction site due to the changes made by the clients at the

end of completion of projects. The contractor begins the

construction works at site, while the construction work is in

progress, the sudden requirement of the client will complicate

the near completion work and end up with rework.Errors in

documents and incomplete documents were affect the

procurement of material.(SasitharanNagapan 2012).

Site management and practices

Improper material management is due to lack of planning

skills of the site staff. Without detailed planning of

construction process, requirement of material can lead to the generation of waste. Besides that, delay in inspection/lack of

supervision factors also significantly contribute to waste.

This is because majority of construction waste is generated at

uncontrolled sites. For example, these problems related to

Slow in making decisions and Lack of a quality management

system. 3.2.3Procurement Attributes

Procurement categories were reveal procure and purchase of

materials. The waste generated over allowance materials in

construction projects are excessive allowance of bricks and

concrete mixture that end up as waste.Unskilled workers tend

to make more mistakes due to lack of skills and poor working

attitude. Sometimes, poor ordering of material without specification details and low quality materials also cause

waste.

Material Handling Attributes

In this categories, material handling attributes like wrong material storage, theft, damage during transportation, delay in

deliveries and material in loose form (brick, sand, steel and

tile ). Material were storage in open place was affected their

properties and damaged. Damage during transportation leads

to procure more material than estimated level.

Operational Attributes

In Operational stage,design were executed in site. While

execution, materials were waste due to error of tradesmen,

accident, malfunctioning breakdown of equipment,Required

quantity unclear sue to improper planning,Delay in passing

information to contractors and inclement weather also affect

the materials in site. Errors of tradesmen were leads to

increase wastage level in site.Improper planning form

required quantity unclear.

Analysis of results

Collected data were analysed by statistical tools analyse

method using SPSS software(Statistical package for the

social sciences).The mean and standard deviation were

calculated to rank waste causes and also the major waste attributes were analysed using paired sample T-Test at a

95% of confidence interval.Test value 3 was used to

compare the means. Those with mean values of 3 and

below were considered as major waste attributes and those

waste attributes found to have mean scores less than 3 were

considered insignificant.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

All questionnaire got response from project manager, site

supervisor and store keeping and purchase manager and also

case studied was done in different construction.Collected data

were analysed using statistical tools analysis method, SPSS

(Statistical package for the social sciences) is a statistical

analysis and data management software package. SPSS can

take data from almost any type of file and use them to

generate tabulated reports, charts, and plots of distribution and trends, descriptive statistics, and conduct complex

statistical analyses. This was done to identify causes which

contributes most to material waste in that group and plot

chart for respective results.

DESIGN AND DOCUMENTATION

In this questionnaire I have consider design and

documentation attributes, mean and rank were calculated.

Thatstatistic result is depicted in table 4.1


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Table-Descriptive Statistics of design and

documentation

Attri

butes

N Mean

Std.

Deviati

on

Rank

frequent design

changes 36 2.17 1.08 1

changes in specification

36 2.53 1.11 2

selection of low

quality product 36 3.11 1.3 3

complexity of

details 36 3.36 1.31 4

lack of information in

drawing

36 3.56 1.27 5

incomplete

contract

document

36 3.92 1.13 6

error in contract

document 36 4.06 0.89 7

Valid N

(listwise) 36

By this above result, frequent design changes are most

significant attributes on design and documentation categories.

Table -Frequency Table Of Frequent Design

Changes

Frequency Perc

ent

Valid

Percen

t

Cumulativ

e Percent

Vali

d

1 9 25.0 25.0 25.0

2 18 50.0 50.0 75.0

3 6 16.7 16.7 91.7

5 3 8.3 8.3 100.0

Tot

al 36

100.

0 100.0

Inference

The inference made from response of construction workers

and contractors 25% are strongly agree the causes of waste in

construction site are due to design changes, 50% of the

respondent says agree,16.7% of the respondent says neutral

and 8.3 % of the respondents says strongly disagree.

Fig. Bar Chart Of Design And Documentation

Based on the factors in Table 4.1 , from highest frequency to

lowest frequency for construction waste factors were

presented in Figure 4.1. The highest factor contributes to the

waste generation is frequent design changes with 75%

researchers admit as contributory factor. The waste was

generated at construction site due to the changes made by the

clients at end of the project. First design and documentation

was approved by both parties and construction material were

procured with estimate while construction is in progress the

sudden requirement of the clients will end up with rework.

This behaviour is leads to generate demolition waste and also waste that procured materials.

SITE MANAGEMENT ATTRIBUTES

In this part I have made the question in site management

aspects, descriptive statistic tabulated their mean is shown in

table 4.3.

Table -Descriptive StatisticsOfSite Management

Attributes

Site Management Attributes N Mean

Std.

Deviation Rank

Improper material management 36 2.31 1.431 1

Lack of supervision & delay of

inspection 36 2.53 1.298

2

Poor coordination &

communication 36 3.19 1.117

3

Slow in making decisions 36 3.50 1 4

Lack of a quality management

system 36 3.81 1.327

5

Valid N (list wise) 36

From descriptive statistic of site management attributes,

improper material management as the major contributors for

waste generation in site.

Table4.3 indicated the most significant attributes in site

management categories, it represented in fig 4.2. improper

material management in the first positionas the most

significant waste attributes on sites in their respective

categories. The waste is increased due to site engineers was


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not properly utilise that issued materials, materials are

damaged while transport from storage area to work area and

also it were not placed safely in working area. For examples,

cements, steel and sand wrongly stored at work place or stored at any open space(fig 4.3). These cause the materials

to be exposed to moisture and rain. Without detailed planning

of construction process, requirement material from storage

department can lead to the generation of physical waste.site

supervisors have to manage the materials.

PROCUREMENT ATTRIBUTES

In this format I would include questions arriving from

procurement attributes. Below table indicate mean and rank

by descriptive statistic method.

Table Descriptive StatisticsOf Procurement Attributes

Procurement

Attributes N Mean

Std.

Deviation Rank

Over allowance 36 2.97 1.028 1

Item is not comply

with specification 36 3.25 1.079 2

Ordering error 36 3.39 1.128 3

Mistakes in

quantity survey 36 3.44 1.252 4

Valid N (list wise) 36

It was found that over allowance as the main contributor for

waste generation.

Based on the factors in Table 4.5 , from highest frequency to

lowest frequency for construction waste factors were

presented in Figure 4.5. The highest factor contributes to the

waste generation is over allowance with 55% researchers

admit as contributory factor.Unskilled workers tend to make

more mistakes due to lack of skills and poor working attitude

due to this attitude lot of material were waste hence over

allowance of material for that work than estimated

percentage.Lack of work plan leads to over allowance.

Different loose form material get collapsed due to un clear work place is main cause for over allowance.

MATERIAL HANDLING ATTRIBUTES

Here I have prepared the question ofmaterial handling

attributes problems. That statistic result is depicted in table

Table -Descriptive Statistics OfMaterial Handling

Attributes

Material

Handling N Mean

Std.

Deviation

Rank

wrong material

storage 36 2.36 1.246 1

Damage during

transportation 36 2.39 1.050 2

Delay during

delivery 36 2.42 .967 3

Theft 36 2.42 1.204 4

Material

supplied in loose

form

36 3.19 1.167 5

By descriptive statistics result, wrong material storage is the

major attributes in material handling attributes.

In this category, wrong material storage and poor

materials handling become key factors for waste generation.

Storage must of necessity be related to the sequence of

operations to ensure a minimum of movement and handling.

In his study(L. Muhwezi 2012)Inappropriate storage can

result from say when materials are stacked without pallets such as bricks/blocks, bags of cement, gypsum, lime etc

Exposing materials to inclement weather such as

steel bars which rust and may get damaged unpacked supply

of materials like bricks, glass and tiles often increase wastage

during transportation due to their fragile nature. Excessive or

unnecessary inventories which lead to material waste by

robberyand vandalism. Damage during transportation is

another main significant attributes in this categories.

OPERATIONAL ATTRIBUTES

In this part the question asked were operational

attributes.That statistic result is depicted in table 4.9

Table Descriptive Statistics of Operational Attributes

Operational Attributes N Mean Std. Deviation Rank

Errors by tradesmen 36 2.19 .889 1

Damages to work done due to

subsequent traders 36 2.22 .898 2

Inclement weather 36 2.53 1.207 3

Required quantity unclear due to

improper planning 36 2.97 1.230 4

Malfunction breakdown of

equipment 36 3.03 .878 5

Delay in passing information to

contractors 36 3.11 1.326 6

Accidence due to negligence 36 3.25 1.251 7

Use of incorrect material thus

requiring replacement 36 4.28 .944 8

Valid N (listwise) 36

By this above result, error by trades man are most significant

attributes on operational attributes categories.


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MAIN WASTE CATEGORIES

The results are presented in Tables 4.11, where

lower values of sum of mean ranking the major category of

waste attribute.

Table Main waste categories

Main Waste Categories Mean Rank

Material Handling

Attributes 2.56 1

Site Management

Attributes 2.97 2

Operational Attributes 3.02 3

Procurement Attributes 3.26 4

Design and

documentation 3.29 5

Building construction have five stage respect to material

management. Each stage haveprocess of cycle. That process have to done correctly. From these stages material handling

attributes are major attributes to causes of waste in

construction.

In this stage materials are attained more damages

and workers done mistakes. Materials were damaged due to

transportation. Loose form of material are waste enormously.

Theft is one of the causes of material waste.

WASTE MINIMISATION MEASURES

TABLE Descriptive Statistics ofWaste Minimisation

Measures

waste minimisation

measures N Mean Std. Deviation Rank

Adequate storage of

materials 36 1.64 .639 1

Ordering only needed of

material 36 2.00 .862 2

Ordering material to size 36 2.11 .747 3

Take back arrangement

with suppliers 36 2.28 .914 4

Recycling off site 36 2.50 .845 5

Segregation of waste on

site 36 2.53 .878 6

Appointment of waste

manager on site 36 2.61 .964 7

Reuse on site of off cut

materials 36 2.72 1.111 8

Prefabrication of

components off site 36 2.81 1.142 9

Incentives to site

personnel 36 2.97 1.000 10

Recycling on site 36 3.03 1.082 11

Using mechanical

handling of materials 36 3.36 1.291 12

Valid N (listwise) 36

MATERIALWASTAGE RATE ON PERCENTAGE

Each and every construction material have some

wastage level as per ISO 456 code. Construction companies

were consider these percentage of wastage in their estimation.

I was conducted case study on three sites in Chennai.

From results on case study in three sites regarding

the wastage level of some important material of construction

industry are as shown in following table, the results shown below were ready statistics provided by the employees of

each site. These are approximate data from then experience.

Table Waste Rate On Percentage In Different Sites

Material Site 1 Site2 Site3

Cement 3 3 5

Concrete 1 2 2

Sand 10 12 25

Course

aggregate 5 3 10

Tile 5 10 7

Plastic 1 5 1

Metal 5 3 1

Timber 2 - 2

Brick 15 1.5 5

FIG Bar Chart Of Different Site Wastage Percentage

In construction site, inert material wasteincreases than active

materials.In my case study of three sites waste percentage

was different from one another site. Sand is the one of the

most significant waste in constructions.Because it‟s a loose

from material.Sand mostly waste in transportation stage and storage.

CASE STUDY ON MATERIAL WASTE MANAGEMNT AT

PROJECT SITE

A field was conducted on the following sites to

study wastage; the sites were(Chennai)

Residential building A

Residential building B

Residential building C

02468

10121416182022242628

site 1

site2

site3


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All the three sites were under construction stage and

involve huge work of concreting and civil work, which

required sufficient manpower, machinery and equipment.

The study carried out on these sites was done by keeping in mind that the main objectives is to collect wastage level

of material, causes and minimisation measures in sites.

Due to few constraint, only limited data were collected

and these data were used for analysing the cause, wastage

level and measures. The site name is not mentioned as

these data were provide only after a commitment of not

disclosing their name in the case.

GENERAL OBSERVATION

SITE A:

In this site, most of material were reuse, scrap steel were gone for recycling. But work place was unclear.

Waste material were dumped improperly. RMC is using in

this site. Hence concrete and cement waste were low. They

have department for each and every stages. wastage was

calculated at storage department and purchase department.

Purchase department was ensure the drawing and

estimation procurement. Due to this reason over ordering

was perevented.Bytheir analyse wastage was generated due

to site labour and lack of supervision. They weretried to

decreases wastage by give penalties to workers for

improper work and generate wastage of materials. It was decrease some amount of wastage and also increases labour

awareness in waste management.

SITE B:

Site B was using batching plant, with transit mixer

and concrete pump. This building is not a conventional. It is

A RBC structure That building was constructing on

concrete only. Basement andstilt only made by brick wall.

They were using aluminium formmethod. Aluminium form

was shuttering for wall as per drawing. concrete was

pouring from one edge, that concrete are flow all over wall

panel.self compacting concrete was using in that site. Due

to this method larger amount of wastage of inter waste were avoided. Instead of straight rod coil form are

used(8,10,12mm). Hence wastage of reinforcement was

minimised.It have more stability than conventional

building.

They are procure and purchase material by using online

marketing. over ordering are avoided by this method. If

material was damaged or low quality, it was return to

vendor( condition was noted).Non moving stocks were

transported to other work site, transport report was sent to purchase department. Here waste material were segregated

with their respective category. Hazards material was stored

at separate place. Bar bending was done at their central yard

as bar bending schedule.

SITE C :

It is a luxuries apartment .In this site consider project

specification and client satisfaction are very important. They

not concentrate on waste minimisation. Storage of material

was properly done at site, They was using two side opening

container for cement storage, it was reduced non moving

stock and wastage of cement bags. In site C wastage

produced mostly by transportation and theft.

CONCLUSION

From the study it is concluded that wastageof material in

construction industry are usually because of attitude design

and documentation,site management, procurement stage,

material handling and operational attributes.waste generation

is mostly attributed tofrequent design changes;changing

designs when works have already progressed and also the un

coordinated activities between main contractors and

subcontractors and even amongst different crews. There is

need for designers to remain in touch with clients in the

design stages to avoid issues of changing drawings when

work has already commenced as this results into wastes in redoing work or buying extra materials because of the design

changes introduced. The improper methods of handling

materials and poor storage facilities to protect them from

damage and deterioration; Improper material management

was increased waste due to site engineers was not properly

utilise that issued materials, materials are damaged while

transport from storage area to work area and also it were not

placed safely in working area. Over allowance ,Procurement

of products that do not comply with specifications in the

procurement category contribute significantly to waste

generation on sites. Procurement needs to be done by knowledgeable personnel about the project and has to be in

conformity with project specifications and in right quantities.

Constant interaction between site staff and purchasing

department should be encouraged. Changing attitude towards

labour about their work method. Wrong material storage is

main attributes in material handling category .wrong material

storage for waste generation are aggressive handling of bricks

and blocks during construction leads to cracks and spoil

.Loose form of materials( cement and sand) were stored at

open place. These cause the materials to be exposed to

moisture and rain. Materials should be stored as per supplier

instructions. Errors by tradesmen is causes of waste in operational category. The most of tradesmen fail to read the

instruction or drawing, the mistakes include wall frame

improperly cut or assembled.and lack quality in work. Site

investigations need to be properly designed and carried out

for collect the right, quality and quantity of information

before starting any projects.In Material handling stage waste

was generate more compare to other stages. Adequate storage

of material, ordering only needed material and use take back

arrangements are most significant methods to minimise waste

at site.

RECOMMENDATION AND SUGGESTIONS

Based on the findings study, a number of recommendation

can be made to reduce material waste on construction sites to

a minimum. The recommendation are stipulated in table

below, but the following are specifically noted:

They the materials deliveries should be properly planned and

also adequate care should be taken in storing materials.

Storage areas and site transport route should be properly

planned.A number of security precautions are also


Vol 3 Issue 5 May -2015 3221 5687, (P) 3221 568X


recommended for minimizing the risk of theft and pilferage

and the most important that care and proper handling in the

use of materials is essential. Proper control and regular

accounting of materials are also recommended.

The need for material control policies is thereby emphasized,

It is proposed that the firms should draw up working

procedures for waste to guide site personnel in the use of

materials on site.It is also stressed that both head office

personnel and site personnel should be educated waste

prevention.During material delivery,before unloading of

material from vehicle inspection of materialshould done.

Contractors and other stakeholders must be educated and

sensitized about the strategies and benefits of waste

minimization on construction projects and the cost saving

measures that can be followed in waste reduction which can

ultimately result in increased profit margins.

I would also recommend having a waste officer in the

organisation will dedicatedly work on waste preventions.

Finally, in view of the important of material waste to the

economy of the world the following recommendation are

made with respect to the different aspects.

Delivery of material on time

Waste control policy

Proper storage and internal transportation

Worker should be encouraged to handling material

with care during transportation on site.

Proper site supervision

Site accounting and reconciliation has to calculate in

every month.

Material reconciliation and stock accounting should be done regularly.

All people working on site should be educatedon

waste prevention.

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international journal of science and engineering research ... · and the wastage level in ......

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