Integrated approach as sustainable environment technique for managing construction waste : a review

Abstract

The construction industry was reported as a major consumer of natural resources worldwide. Almost 60% of the natural resources consumed by this industry have caused a lot of environmental impacts on humans and the environment. Among the impacts were the disruption of human water sources, changes in the biological ecosystem and disruption of the food supply chain among biological factors. Countries around the world have enforced several laws and regulations. Apart from that, waste management technologies were formulated by government agencies and the world’s researchers were among initiatives to minimise the waste generation rate. Several technologies, such as recycling and recovery technologies were highlighted to be very efficient in minimising the waste accumulation rate. This paper discussed an integrated concept for managing construction waste in a sustainable manner. The integrated approach has adopted the reuse method, central sorting facilities, recycling facilities, thermal treatment facilities and disposal facilities. Implementations of these integrated approaches were able to save the world’s raw materials and natural energy sources as well as reducing the impacts of pollution on the environment.