Factors affecting the construction waste management in terms of refurbishing, reusing or recycling

There is an increasing need to reduce construction waste and to promote more green and sustainable construction. Refurbishing existing buildings and re-using existing construction materials may provide the right answer to reduce such waste and minimise its impact on the environment.
The construction industry globally consumes around 40% of global raw stone, gravel, and sand; 20% of virgin wood; and uses about 40% of total energy. According to Defra statistics, 108.8 million tonnes of Construction Demolition and Excavation waste was generated in the UK in 2012, which increased to 120 million tonnes in 2014. In England, the share of ‘Construction’ was higher at 64% of the total waste generated from other sectors.
When a building starts showing serious structural defects or reaches its original design life, a well-informed decision is required on whether to refurbish, reuse or demolish such building.
Unfortunately, most developers go for a complete demolishing simply because it is an easy option. There is a great potential for refurbishment across the world. In the UK, the current composition of the building stock and the preferred public attitude towards keeping older stock and composite buildings may support the refurbishment criteria.
This research project, which uses data from selected existing construction-demolition sites in the UK and relevant Building Information Modelling (BIM) tools, aims to develop a framework to define suitable criteria for the developer to decide whether to refurbish, re-use or demolish existing buildings. The developed criteria would also be helpful for the sustainable design of new buildings to achieve less demolition and waste generation at the end of their life. The initial findings of this PhD study will be reported in the full paper.