Assessment of Contruction Waste Management in Nigerian Building Projects

Abstract

Construction and demolition waste management is one of the major environmental problems facing this country. Waste management entails reduction, recycles and reuse. The paper is to assess the causes of wastage on construction sites, finding out which of the various trades generate the highest level of waste on-site. This will give insight to site activities focused should be in order to reduce building waste. The need for the paper is as a result of an increase in the number of construction works and a reduction in the landfills. The objectives are to examine the causes of wastage on-site, assess the wastage level among the various trades, and to identify the strategy of managing construction and demolition waste on-site. The research is conducted by means of questionnaire and by visiting the worksite. It was discovered that sorting of construction and demolition waste and recycling of waste materials are not widely practiced and formwork was the major contributor to the construction waste on most of the sites surveyed. It was recommended that government should impose charges on the construction company based on the volume of the waste generated and should encourage recycling of the most of the used materials.