Present study’s target is to depict an inclusive construction waste management (CWM) plan looking at the total project life cycle. This holistic approach was called Integrated construction waste Management (ICWM). This research program was conducted through several consecutive academic dissertations at Civil Engineering Department of SUT and was firstly aimed to identify waste sources throughout project life cycle. Concurrent research efforts were focused on project delivery methods evaluation e.g. contract type effect on waste generation amount along with appropriate guidelines/incentives development that could promote ICMW. These studies were conducted via field observations and questionnaire surveys where respondents were educated, skilled and experienced construction industry experts. The research findings indicate that construction waste origins/processes should be determined separately during construction projects life cycle to devise exclusive solutions accordingly. Furthermore, cost-plus contract, which is common in local residential projects in Iran is identified an improper contract type from construction waste generation standpoint. Incentive based programs, project stakeholders training, salvage plan establishing for all materials before project initiation and apt documentation for future CWM planning are identified effective/practical ICWM solutions. Finally it was concluded that thriving ICWM is going to be a teamwork result rather than responsibility of a sole stakeholder e.g. contractor.

Building industry as one of the greatest industries in Iran comprises a significant share of waste generation in the country. Since a large quantity of the generated construction waste is buried due to the lack of a recycling protocol, it leads to an undesired waste of resources and causes severe environmental issues. This paper provides a study on the problem of material loss/construction waste in the Iranian Building Industry regarding the impact of relevant shortcomings in the stages of design, construction and supervision as the main phases of construction process. This paper includes the case studies from Isfahan, Mazandaran, Qazvin and Zanjan provinces, with a focus on the most important elements underlying construction waste generation. It also presents the experts points of view on prefab and conventional construction methods considering construction waste generation through a questionnaire-based survey. In general, the results show that Iranian project managers, engineers, contractors and workers believe that from 40 to 100 percent of construction wastes can be reduced via application of prefab construction methods. The results indicate that prefabrication can be considered as a solution to waste reduction in the Iranian Building Industry, whereas there is a dominant conventional method application in the industry.

The aim of this work is to obtain recycled aggregate (RA) from construction debris in order to reduce the rapid consumption of aggregate resources and the environmental impact of these resources. In order to fulfill this aim, the density, porosity, Schmidt hardness test, uniaxial compression resistance, carbonation depth, and ultrasonic pwave velocity experiments were conducted on different construction debris transported by trucks from 9 different points in Turkey. In addition, the debris samples taken were broken down to the size of the aggregate and subjected to the tests of density, porosity, moisture content, freeze-thaw, and impact resistance. As a result of the conducted experiments, the lowest mass loss as a result of freezing-thawing was in GRA with 9. 36%, the highest mass loss was in ORA with 22. 58%, the highest ORA average aggregate impact strength index was 21. 27%, and the lowest TRA aggregate impact strength index was found to be 18. 26%. İ t was determined that most of the physical properties of RA obtained from the construction wreckage was within the limit values specified in the literature and that the recycled aggregates could be used instead of natural aggregate. With this work and these results, RA obtained could be used in many areas such as concrete aggregate in the construction sector, underground filling in mining, filling material in gunned concrete, and filling materials on highways.

Numbers of waste concrete have generated from construction and demolition waste (CDW) threaten environmental and human health due to the illegal dumping practices in several countries. Recently, the recycling of waste concrete has demonstrated the ability to reduce dependency on a natural resource in producing building materials as well as reducing carbon footprint in the concrete manufacturing process. The objective is to determine the limitation factors of waste Concrete Aggregate (WCA) as a replacement for virgin concrete aggregate. Analysis by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), leaching, and sulphate tests were used to identify the physicochemical characteristics of WGA. Results showed WCA has high water absorption, expansion of Alkali-Silicate Reaction (ASR), low adhesive strength between aggregate and cement, leachability, and high soluble sulphate. CaO, Al2O3, SiO2, SO42-, Cr2O3, SrO, and Al2O3 were the main chemical components consisting of WCA. The leachability of Ca, Zn, and Cr in WCA was pH-dependent. High soluble sulphate content in WCA determined the extension formation of micro-crack in WCA due to extensively recrystallizing the Delay Ettringite Formation (DEF) in WCA.  The formation of micro-crack, ASR, and low adhesive strength between aggregate and cement insides of WCA significantly affect the durability of recycled products in building structures. High water absorption and leachability of WCA enhanced the release of heavy metals in soil. Therefore, these limiting factors in WCA were necessarily treated before being utilized as a part of the recycled product.

The construction industry is a major consumer of new materials. Given that material production for construction work accounts for a significant percentage of all energy consumed nationally in newly developing countries, it becomes vital that the construction industry strives to reduce waste at all stages of construction. However, the importance of these construction wastes in terms of types and sources have yet to be identified. Established systems to record quantitative data for the generation of construction waste have yet to be formally standardised and are still lacking across much of Europe and developing countries. Although categorisation of waste assists segregation of construction waste and increases the potential for reuse and recycling, little progress has been made in Sarawak, the largest state in Malaysia. To address this need, this pilot study is carried out as the logical first step towards construction waste management in Sarawak by categorisation of construction waste at residential construction projects. Through this study, useful information concerning waste assessment data necessary to achieve a better understanding of construction waste is obtained. Case studies involving quantification and classification of construction waste for several on-going residential construction projects in Miri City, Sarawak, Malaysia are presented. A database of information concerning the quantification of local construction waste was developed, in addition to current construction waste management practices.