Nithya & Ramasamy, 2021

Materials Today: Proceedings 46 (2021) 849–851
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Materials Today: Proceedings
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr
Sustainability in construction industry through zero waste technology in
India
M. Nithya a,⇑, Muthukumaran Ramasamy b
a
b
Department of Civil Engineering, CMR Institute of Technology, Hyderabad 501401, Telangana, India
Department of Mechanical Engineering, CMR Institute of Technology, Hyderabad 501401, Telangana, India
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 14 December 2020
Received in revised form 14 December 2020
Accepted 19 December 2020
Available online 10 February 2021
Keywords:
Construction
Demolition waste
Zero waste
Sustainability
a b s t r a c t
Construction sector, a key driving factor for socio-economic development of a country, also generates an
enormous amount of Construction and Demolition waste. Sustainability in construction industry can be
achieved through effective adoption of zero waste management techniques. This paper provides an overview of different types of wastes generated during construction activities; challenges faced by construction industry towards sustainability with respect to Indian scenario. The article also emphasis on various
activities being initiated by the Indian Government for implementation of zero waste strategy in construction sector.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 2nd International Conference on Manufacturing Material Science and Engineering.
1. Introduction
Hyper Urbanization is a driving factor for environment degradation and unsustainability. A major contribution for a nation’s
development and urban growth is obtained due to boom in construction sector activities. India, as one of fastest developing country, depends on the construction industry for infrastructure
development. The construction industry has started over exploitation of natural resources in order to meet the exponential demand.
In addition, huge amount of Construction and Demolition waste
(CD waste) being generated every year across the world is sent
to land fill as dumps causing numerous environmental problems.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India estimates CD
waste generation across India as 44 million tonnes which accounts
for 175 kg per capita per year [14]. The estimated amount of CD
waste may get doubled by the end of the year 2025. The CD is
waste generated during various construction activities such as site
clearance, excavation, renovation, demolition, natural and manmade disasters, road construction. It includes different types of
materials such as Earth, stone, sand, mixed soil during excavation,
contaminated wood, bricks, tiles, concrete with or without reinforcing materials, insulation and roofing materials, salvaged building components, plumbing fixtures, asphalt during road repair and
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Nithya).
other waste materials [6]. The types of waste composition are more
complicate to analyze and manage but over 90% of the waste can
be reused and recycled. The complexity in waste generation
depends on various factors such as climate, lifestyle, income, consumption behavior [12]. The CD waste disposal has a serious threat
of landslide if it stored as pile.
However, zero waste strategy developed during the recent past
focuses on the principles such as reuse, reduce, recycle, recover and
residual management as shown in Fig. 1 can be adopted in construction industry.
1.1. Literature review
Globally, Construction and Demolition waste management
techniques were discussed by many of the researchers [1–4,7–
9,11] with respect to their countries. In Indian context, only a
few researches [5,10,13,15] have focused on the challenges faced
and strategies to be adopted for sustainable growth in construction
industry. Moreover, there is uncertainty in the estimate of CD
waste being generated in the country and it is evident from the
data given by various organizations.
This paper articulates an overview of different types of wastes
generated during construction activities, challenges faced by construction industry towards sustainability and implementation of
zero waste strategy in construction sector with respect to Indian
scenario.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.12.851
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 2nd International Conference on Manufacturing Material Science and Engineering.
M. Nithya and M. Ramasamy
Materials Today: Proceedings 46 (2021) 849–851
Fig. 2. Quantity of waste generated in various cities of India.
economic viability. In addition, there existed policy road blocks
such as very weak national laws and legal frame work for recovery
of CD waste. Even the IS 383: 1970 has directed to use natural
resources as aggregate which did not allow the use of recycled
aggregates in concrete until the revision of code in the year
2016. After the revision, IS 383 has incorporated recycled aggregate as replacement for natural aggregate up to 25% for plain concrete and 20% for M 25 grade RC (reinforced concrete) and 100%
for in M 15 grade lean concrete.
Fig. 1. Principles of Zero waste.
2. CD waste composition, generation & application
A typical composition of CD waste generated in India include
the materials in different composition as shown in Table 1. Top
cities generating enormous amount of CD waste is shown in
Fig. 2. Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata are ranked top in the list of cities
followed by Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune.
CD waste finds its major applications in sub-base layer for road
construction and replacement for natural aggregate as Recycled
Concrete Aggregate RCA for non-load bearing structures. Also,
Manufactured sand is produced by crushing CD waste and fine
fraction is used to replace fine aggregate for non-load bearing
structures.
4. Initiatives towards zero CD waste in India
The Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules
was notified in the year 2016 by Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). In the year 2018, Ministry of
Housing and Urban Affairs has published ‘‘Strategy for Promoting
Processing of Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste and Utilisation of Recycled Products” draft copy to promote the recycled
products manufactures from CD waste. The key initiatives of the
CD waste management rules 2016 are stated below,
(1) It has mandated all local bodies to utilize 10 – 20% of recycled products in contracts of municipal and government construction. (2) Suggested to review the terms and conditions along with
revision of tipping fee for delivery of CD waste to lower the price of
CD waste recycled products by 20% than the conventional products. (3) All large developers are responsible for collection and disposal of C&D waste. (4) Recommended to provide necessary
incentives to waste generators for salvaging, processing, and recycling, preferably in situ. (5) Insisted to maintain a up to date database above the waste generators and use of recycled products by
various government contracts. (6) All renovation projects involving
demolition, even in the private sector, may be mandated to use at
least 20 per cent of recycled C&D waste products.
3. Challenges faced by construction industry
The CD waste has been considered as one of the resources in
many parts of the world in early 2000 but still India has started
realizing the importance of CD waste only in late 2000. Delhi and
Mumbai being the large generators of CD waste, initiated small
steps even before the framing of CD waste policy in India. Mumbai
City and Development Corporation along with Youth for Unity and
Voluntary Action (YUVA) has decentralized debris management
solution which paved way for recycling 1500 tonnes of waste during the year 2002 – 2006. Municipal Corporation of Delhi collaborated with IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure & Services Ltd to
develop a pilot project which began its operation in 2009 with a
capacity of 500 tonnes per day. The major challenge faced by the
CD waste processing unit was due to lack of confidence and knowledge in reuse of CD waste; and recycled CD waste products has less
5. Conclusion
As a great imitative and role model for utilization of CD waste in
real time construction, few construction projects viz., as New
Supreme Court complex and Express Road in north Delhi utilised
recycled CD waste for construction. It is also proposed to have
two approaches to enhance the market for recycled products from
CD waste such as
1. Privileged buy back policies from government and private
organisations
2. Eco-product labelling and green certification to the products
will enhance the recycled product selling.
Table 1
Composition of CD waste in India (Source: TIFAC 2001).
Sl. No.
Type of waste
% of waste generated
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Soil, Sand, Gravel
Bricks and Masonry
Concrete
Metals
Bitumen
Wood
Others
36
31
23
5
2
2
1
850
Materials Today: Proceedings 46 (2021) 849–851
M. Nithya and M. Ramasamy
Further, zero waste strategy in construction sector not only provides sustainable environment and reduced cost of construction
but also extends job opportunities in the recycling industries.
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Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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