Production patterns of packaging waste categories generated at typical Mediterranean residential building worksites

Journal Article · Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Waste Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.WASMAN.2014.06.020· OSTI ID:22436809

González Pericot, N., E-mail: [e-mail] ^[1]; Villoria Sáez, P., E-mail: [e-mail] ^[1]; Del Río Merino, M., E-mail: [e-mail] ^[1]; Liébana Carrasco, O., E-mail: [e-mail] ^[2]

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1. Escuela Técnica Superior de Edificación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Calle Juan de Herrera n°6, 28040 Madrid (Spain)
2. Escuela de Arquitectura, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Calle Tajo s/n, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón (Spain)

Highlights: • On-site segregation level: 1.80%; training and motivation strategies were not effective. • 70% Cardboard waste: from switches and sockets during the building services stage. • 40% Plastic waste: generated during structures and partition works due to palletizing. • >50% Wood packaging waste, basically pallets, generated during the envelope works. - Abstract: The construction sector is responsible for around 28% of the total waste volume generated in Europe, which exceeds the amount of household waste. This has led to an increase of different research studies focusing on construction waste quantification. However, within the research studies made, packaging waste has been analyzed to a limited extent. This article focuses on the packaging waste stream generated in the construction sector. To this purpose current on-site waste packaging management has been assessed by monitoring ten Mediterranean residential building works. The findings of the experimental data collection revealed that the incentive measures implemented by the construction company to improve on-site waste sorting failed to achieve the intended purpose, showing low segregation ratios. Subsequently, through an analytical study the generation patterns for packaging waste are established, leading to the identification of the prevailing kinds of packaging and the products responsible for their generation. Results indicate that plastic waste generation maintains a constant trend throughout the whole construction process, while cardboard becomes predominant towards the end of the construction works with switches and sockets from the electricity stage. Understanding the production patterns of packaging waste will be beneficial for adapting waste management strategies to the identified patterns for the specific nature of packaging waste within the context of construction worksites.

• OSTI ID: 22436809
• Journal Information: Waste Management, Vol. 34, Issue 11; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0956-053X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
EUROPE
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
MONITORING
MUNICIPAL WASTES
PACKAGING
PLASTICS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SEGREGATION
SORTING
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WOOD