Contents - Akademi Sains Malaysia

M.N.N. Husna et al.: Construction Waste Management: Issues, Challenges and Supply Chain Management Mechanisms2006). Salvaging construction waste during demolitionand construction can assist to provide materials that canbe re-used, recycled, sold or donated, thus decreasing thecost of constructing the building and creating new businessopportunities among small- and medium-manufacturingindustry (Coelho 2006). Otherwise, good practices ofCWM is also important because it helps to protect theenvironment and it makes good business sense. Thus,adoption of waste minimization saves money throughavoided disposal costs, creates safer working conditionsfor employees, and protects human health and theenvironment (Coelho 2006). General methods of wastemanagement are source reduction, recycling, and treatment.In Portugal, recycling is a new business, especiallywhen it comes to construction and demolition waste,where recycling efforts are minimal, and this is gainingmomentum (Coelho 2006).There are studies showing that the good practice ofCWM is important to protect the environment. Therefore,further studies on this issues and challenges need to beconducted in order to implement the mechanism of supplychain management for CWM.The Issues and Challenges in CWMIn the developing countries, the issues and problemsof CWM are of immediate importance. Based on theextensive literature review in a number of developingcountries, for instances in Hong Kong, construction wasteis directly disposed off at landfills without separating thewaste into its constituent parts which aggravates the landfillshortage problem (Poon et al. 2001). The main reasonsfor the challenges are the lack of financial resources tocope with the increasing amount of waste generated,uncontrolled open dumps, the operational in efficienciesof waste services due to inefficient institutional structuresof operators, inefficient organizational procedures and useof inappropriate technologies, financial and institutionalconstraints for adequate disposal of waste (Zurburgg &Schertenleib 1998).A study in Indonesia had identified the other problemswhich affected the construction projects, includedinefficiencies in using materials, equipment shortages,imbalances in organizational structure, unfair competition,limited funds, planning uncertainties and a lack of humanresource development (Royat 1994). The problems ofCWM in Thailand is similar to Hong Kong which havecaused environment perspectives comprising insufficientbudgetary allocation for CWM management andineffective collection of service fees; no active planningon establishing common disposal facility among adjacentcommunities; no definite regulation and guideline forCWM hierarchy starting from source separation, collection,transportation, disposal and monitoring; lack of skilledpersonnel in operating an efficient waste collection anddisposal practices; absence of waste recycling programmein most communities; associated existing legislationdoes not adequately facilitate the CWM in an effectivedirection; lack of public co-operation and participation;lack of government legal enforcement amongst others(Kofoworola & Gheewala 2009).In a developing country like Malaysia, constructionwaste is a vital issue which recently received greaterattention in the country. Due to the rapid growingpopulation, urbanization and industrialsation, the amountof waste generated gradually increases. The challenges thatoccur in the Malaysian context are related to contractorsnot practicing source separation, source reduction, reusageand recycling in construction sites and disposal of wasteinto landfills. Additionally, there is still a lack of basiclegislation and clear policies on CWM (Hussein et al.2010).In Malaysia, the important issues are related to low levelof legislative enforcement and administrative inefficienciesin managing solid waste (Agamuthu et al. 2009). Thegeneral issues and problems concerning the entire CWM indeveloping countries could be placed into three categoriesincluding the problem of landfill development andmanagement. The first category of problems is more or lessexternal to the solid waste management sector, and to someextent are beyond the capability of the waste managementauthority to solve. The second category is partly externalto the solid waste management authority and other relatedagencies. The third category is mostly internal to the solidwaste sector (Idris et al. 2004).Therefore, the study focussed on issues and challengesthat would assist to identify the main current issues andchallenges that are evident. The main issues and challengesare in construction wastes which are directly disposed inthe landfills without being separated into constituent parts.There is also no recovery process or mechanism for reusingand recycling. Legal enforcement and existing legislationis inadequate to facilitate CWM effectively and thereis no specific regulations and guidelines too, budgetaryallocation for CWM were also insufficient. Based onthe findings, a suitable mechanism could be proposed forimproving the CWM.Overview on the Supply Chain Management (SCM)MechanismsSupply Chain is a concept that can provide a usefulframework for analyzing the construction process.It can be determined by the interconnected series ofactivities concerned with the planning and controlling ofraw materials, components and finished products fromsuppliers to the final consumer (Stevens 1989). The chainis traditionally characterized by the forwarding of materialsand outflow of information (Beamon 1999). The current61