TCM 207/05 Construction Project Case Study: Waste Management Analysis

This case study examines waste management practices at a construction site in Malaysia, focusing on an industrial construction project. It assesses the types of wastes produced, their potential environmental impacts, and the waste reduction methods employed by the company. The study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative methods, including literature review, surveys of local residents, and interviews with construction workers. It identifies various wastes, such as asbestos, bricks, cement, plastics, and chemicals, and evaluates the company's efforts to use eco-friendly materials and recycle waste. The study also highlights difficulties in handling waste due to funding constraints and worker carelessness. Recommendations are provided, including employee training, efficient use of raw materials, and the adoption of deconstruction practices for social housing projects. The study emphasizes the importance of professional guidance and social responsibility in minimizing the harmful impacts of construction wastes. Desklib offers a platform for students to access similar case studies and solved assignments.

Running head: CONSTRUCTION PROJECT CASE STUDY
Construction Project Case Study
Name of the Student:
Name of the Organization:
Author’s Note:

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Background studies about waste management in a construction site
The construction site chosen is that of an industrial construction site. The site is basically
that of an industrial set up. This is basically the ongoing construction work of an industry in
Malaysia. As soon as I was assigned this project I felt that this would be a good place for finding
the pollution that is caused by the different activities that are taking place in the construction site.
Each and every industry has to pay attention to the waste management of the construction
projects that they are undertaking. Waste management is one of the most important things that
the industries must pay attention to1. They have to make sure to make a thorough EIA or
environmental analysis to make sure that none of their activities are creating any harmful impacts
on the natural flora and fauna located in and around them2. They have to keep in mind various
aspects like the location of residences near their close vicinity.
The scope and the objective of the case study
The scope and objective of the case study are to be a part of the ongoing factory
construction in Malaysia in order to assess the effects of the construction waters3. The objective
1 Dahlbo, Helena, John Bachér, Katja Lähtinen, Timo Jouttijärvi, Pirke Suoheimo, Tuomas Mattila, Susanna Sironen, Tuuli Myllymaa, and
Kaarina Saramäki. "Construction and demolition waste management–a holistic evaluation of environmental performance." Journal of
cleaner production107 (2015): 333-341. Wang, Lei, Season S. Chen, Daniel CW Tsang, Chi Sun Poon, and Kaimin Shih. "Value-added
recycling of construction waste wood into noise and thermal insulating cement-bonded particleboards." Construction and Building
Materials 125 (2016): 316-325.
2 Wong, Yee Choong, Karam M. Al-Obaidi, and Norhayati Mahyuddin. "Recycling of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) for building products:
Concept of processing framework from automotive to construction industries in Malaysia." Journal of Cleaner Production 190 (2018): 285-
302.
3 Ibrahim, Saidu, and Winston MW ShaNantu. "A Conceptual FrameworN and a Mathematical Equation for Managing Construction-Material
Waste and Cost Overruns." International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Education, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering 10, no. 2
(2016): 587-593.

3CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
is to warn the people about the major threats that might arise from the indiscriminate disposal of
the factory wastes. The second most important objective of this case study is to assess the waste
reduction methods being used by the company and also recommending them with some useful
tips.
Figure1: Construction Wastes
Source: (www.snapsurveys.com)

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Site overview
The site was the production or the manufacturing units of the famous automobile
manufacturing industry of Malaysia. This is the construction site of an automobile industry. As a
result of this, the construction area that has been undertaken is huge about 1080 square meters.
This is one of the biggest projects that is being undertaken in the current scenario. The
construction includes a large number of activities. Several buildings are being constructed along
with chimneys, pipes. Apart from these, several paints and dyes are also being used for the
purpose of the coloring the buildings after they are made. There is also some water bodies
located near the construction site. They are getting polluted because of the sewage discharges.
These discharges involve materials like diesel, wax, glue and other such elements.

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Figure2: Ongoing Construction Activity
Source: (Behera et al. 2014)
Methods used
In order to conduct this case study, both the qualitative and the quantitative methods have
been used. In order to get a clear idea about the construction wastes an in-depth study was
undertaken. This was mainly done from the books, journals and other such materials that are
available online. So, the quantitative approach has been useful in this respect. Apart from this,
there were also many survey questions that were given out to the residents of the localities

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located in the close proximity of the construction site. The qualitative method also has been used
for taking the individual interviews from the workers at the construction site to get better and
authentic information.
Types of wastes produced in the construction site
There are varied kinds of wastes that are being generated by the construction site. They
suffer from the lack of proper waste treatment plans. As a result of this, the waste generated is
not devoid of the waste materials. One of the wastes is the asbestos. There are many bricks, rock
debris, cement, concrete and ceramics being disposed of without proper treatment4. These
chemicals are highly poisonous in nature and can cause serious damage to the health of the
people living in the nearby areas of the construction site. Plastics are also being disposed of on
the land and in the nearby water bodies as well5.
Ways in managing waste and debris
It has been seen that the construction site is trying to understand the large-scale pollution
that is being caused by the wastes that are being discharged by them. They are trying to use the
eco-friendly paints, dyes, glue, and other such materials in their construction process6. This
ensures that the construction wastes are not causing harm like air pollution, water pollution. They
4 Behera, Monalisa, S. K. Bhattacharyya, A. K. Minocha, R. Deoliya, and S. Maiti. "Recycled aggregate from C&D waste & its use in concrete–A
breakthrough towards sustainability in the construction sector: A review." Construction and building materials 68 (2014): 501-516
5 Wu, Zezhou, T. W. Ann, Liyin Shen, and Guiwen Liu. "Quantifying construction and demolition waste: an analytical review." Waste
Management 34, no. 9 (2014): 1683-1692.
6 Rodríguez, G., C. Medina, F. J. Alegre, E. Asensio, and MI Sánchez de Rojas. "Assessment of construction and demolition waste plant
management in Spain: in pursuit of sustainability and eco-efficiency." Journal of Cleaner Production 90 (2015): 16-24.

7CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
have also started appointing more specialized planners and engineers who are helping to
construct the buildings in accordance with the standard dimensions. In other words, the
engineers' are trying to make sure that less amount of walls are being cut. They are also trying to
recycle and are use the wasted materials for constructing something new. This is really very
useful as it helped in cutting down the cost and at the same time helps in reducing the amount of
pollution that is being created by the construction wastes7.
Difficulties in handling waste or debris in the construction site
Lack of sufficient amount of finds is one of the major difficulties that the company might
suffer. In order to purchase and use the eco-friendly paints, glues and other materials the
company will have to bear a huge amount of money. Many of the workers may be careless and
might not follow the waste management techniques properly. This in turn really becomes a major
problem.
7 Mymrin, Vsévolod A., Kirill P. Alekseev, Rodrigo E. Catai, Ronaldo LS Izzo, Juliana L. Rose, André Nagalli, and Cezar A. Romano.
"Construction material from construction and demolition debris and lime production wastes." Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015):
207-213.

8CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
Figure3: Collection of construction wastes for reusing in later projects
Source: (Silva, De Brito and R. K 2014)
Recommendation
So, it is recommended that the construct arranges for many seminars and workshop where
they would ask all the employees to participate. These seminars and workshops will be on based
on construction wastes, their impact on nature and human health. There must be trainers who

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would explain the importance of recycling and reuse. This would help all the workers to
undertake their work in a serious and efficient manner. Apart from using the chemical-free
liquids, they must also use the solid raw materials in an efficient manner. For an instance, rather
than dumping soil and stone chips in and around the construction site, they can store them for
being used in the construction of some other future projects. They must get the expert advice and
the guidance from the professionals.
The professionals will surely guide the workers in the best possible way so that they can
minimize the harmful impacts of construction wastes. The construction company must also keep
the idea of social works in their mind. They can use the concept of deconstruction in place of
demolition8. They can store all their wasted materials like stones, debris, rock particles and many
other such materials to be used in social housing projects.
8 Silva, R. V., J. De Brito, and R. K. Dhir. "Properties and composition of recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste
suitable for concrete production." Construction and Building Materials 65 (2014): 201-217.

10CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
References
Behera, Monalisa, S. K. Bhattacharyya, A. K. Minocha, R. Deoliya, and S. Maiti. "Recycled
aggregate from C&D waste & its use in concrete–A breakthrough towards sustainability in
the construction sector: A review." Construction and building materials 68 (2014): 501-516.
Dahlbo, Helena, John Bachér, Katja Lähtinen, Timo Jouttijärvi, Pirke Suoheimo, Tuomas
Mattila, Susanna Sironen, Tuuli Myllymaa, and Kaarina Saramäki. "Construction and
demolition waste management–a holistic evaluation of environmental performance." Journal
of cleaner production107 (2015): 333-341. Wang, Lei, Season S. Chen, Daniel CW Tsang,
Chi Sun Poon, and Kaimin Shih. "Value-added recycling of construction waste wood into
noise and thermal insulating cement-bonded particleboards." Construction and Building
Materials 125 (2016): 316-325.
Ibrahim, Saidu, and Winston MW ShaNantu. "A Conceptual FrameworN and a Mathematical
Equation for Managing Construction-Material Waste and Cost Overruns." International
Journal of Social, Behavioral, Education, Economic, Business and Industrial
Engineering 10, no. 2 (2016): 587-593.
Mymrin, Vsévolod A., Kirill P. Alekseev, Rodrigo E. Catai, Ronaldo LS Izzo, Juliana L.
Rose, André Nagalli, and Cezar A. Romano. "Construction material from construction and
demolition debris and lime production wastes." Construction and Building Materials 79
(2015): 207-213.
Rodríguez, G., C. Medina, F. J. Alegre, E. Asensio, and MI Sánchez de Rojas. "Assessment
of construction and demolition waste plant management in Spain: in pursuit of sustainability
and eco-efficiency." Journal of Cleaner Production 90 (2015): 16-24.

11CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
Silva, R. V., J. De Brito, and R. K. Dhir. "Properties and composition of recycled aggregates
from construction and demolition waste suitable for concrete production." Construction and
Building Materials 65 (2014): 201-217.
Wong, Yee Choong, Karam M. Al-Obaidi, and Norhayati Mahyuddin. "Recycling of end-of-
life vehicles (ELVs) for building products: Concept of processing framework from
automotive to construction industries in Malaysia." Journal of Cleaner Production 190
(2018): 285-302.
Wu, Zezhou, T. W. Ann, Liyin Shen, and Guiwen Liu. "Quantifying construction and
demolition waste: an analytical review." Waste Management 34, no. 9 (2014): 1683-1692.