**1. Introduction**

Waste generation through human activities has become a global issue because it has a direct influence on the environment, society, and economy, i.e. overall sustainability [1]. Waste can be any material by-product of human and industrial activity that has no residual value. Both the government and industry see opportunities to

reduce one of the sources of global warming through the implementation of waste management strategies. In recent years, there has been increasing scientific evidence that human activity is harming the environment with the excessive production of waste that results in pollution [2]. For this reason, waste management is a fundamental aspect of sustainability within the construction industry. Because by controlling the waste generation, it is possible to reduce the number of pollutants being released into the environment. Effective waste management will help in the reduction of landfill waste as well as minimize the costs associated with the construction of the project [3]. The global market is largely driven by the growing construction activity and the tendency of governments in different regions of the world to strive for sustainability. The growing demand for sustainable and recycled building materials for commercial construction projects continues to drive the construction waste market. It is estimated that the global solid waste market will reach \$2.01 billion by 2021 [4] and is expected to touch \$3.40 billion by 2050, an increase of about 59% [5] as shown in **Figure 1**.

**Figure 1.** *Global annual waste by 2050 [5].*

### *Circular Economy - Recent Advances in Sustainable Construction Waste Management DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105050*

Moreover, 50–80% of construction and demolition waste can be recycled or reused thus indicating that mismanagement of construction waste can result in the loss of valuable economic resources [6]. Therefore, through the successful implementation of a waste management plan, project managers can often reduce the amount of waste being created within the project and the amount sent to landfills [7]. Both the environment agencies and academics globally believe that through sustainable waste management plans, construction organizations develop an understanding of the quantity of waste generated. This will enable everyone within the company from the top down to be focused and aligned with the same goals such as reuse, recycling, or reducing construction waste [8].

Waste could become a potential source of profit and a financial benefit. Because of reducing the amount of waste going to landfills, there will be a reduction in the costs of the project due to lower landfill taxes. It is also possible to recover costs by selling waste such as scrap metal, the contractor can offset construction costs, which can make them more competitive. Based on the amount of waste generated, its composition, and its treatment, the solid waste treatment and disposal estimated in 2016 was equivalent to about 1.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas emissions, or 5% of world emissions [5]. This is mainly due to landfills and non-landfill gas collection systems' unavailability. Food waste is responsible for almost 50% of emissions. Solid waste emissions are projected to increase to the equivalent of 2.38 billion tons of CO2 per year by 2050 if no progress is made in this area [5].

In many countries, solid waste management is usually under local responsibility, with almost 70% of countries setting up institutions responsible for regulatory oversight of waste policy development [5]. Nearly two-thirds of the countries have adopted specific solid waste management laws and regulations, the implementation of which varies considerably. In addition to regulatory oversight, and tax transfers, it is not uncommon for the central government to be directly involved in waste disposal services, and about 70% of waste disposal services are directly overseen by local governments [5]. At least half of the services, from primary waste collection to treatment to disposal, are provided by government agencies, and about one-third through public-private partnerships. However, successful financing with the private sector and operational partnerships are usually successful only under certain conditions, with appropriate incentives and implementation mechanisms, therefore, are not always the ideal solution.

Financing solid waste management systems is a major challenge, especially because of ongoing operating costs rather than capital investment; operating costs must be forecast [9]. According to The World Bank [5] in high-income countries, the operating costs of integrated waste management, including collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal, typically exceed \$100 per ton. Low-income countries (Sub-Saharan Africa) spend less on waste management at about \$35/ton, but in these countries, the costs are much harder to recover. Waste management is labor-intensive, with transportation costs of \$20–50 per ton. The cost-effectiveness of removal services varies greatly depending on the level of revenue. In low-income countries, costs for users range from an average of \$35 a year to \$170 a year, and full or near-total cost recovery is generally limited to high-income countries [5]. User payment models can be fixed or variable depending on the type of user invoice. Communities typically cover about 50% of the investment costs of waste disposal systems, with the remainder coming primarily from national private sector subsidies. Globally, the production of waste varies from country to country. **Figure 2** highlights the country-wise production of waste in which Spain generates the maximum percentage of waste i.e., 70%.

**Figure 2.** *Country wise waste production [10].*

Hao et al. [11] argue that for too long waste management has focused on the construction practices and processes but overlooks the critical human attitudes. For a labor-intensive industry, how people perceive the importance of waste management is a definitive decider over its success, in particular how the Project Manager conveys this message. Mousavi et al. [12] make note that the success of waste reduction is down to the project manager's ability to value waste reduction as importantly as construction materials ordered. This, therefore, illustrates how attitudes and values within construction are just as critical as legislation. Therefore, the government should focus more on educating the Project Managers. Furthermore, the implementation of sustainable waste management can be bureaucratic and costly. One of these relevant pieces of legislation that construction projects within the UK have had to adhere to has been the Waste Management Plans Regulations 2008 [13], which meant obliged projects over £300,000 were required to plan how much waste the project was to produce and where it would go [14]. For some within the industry, this was considered a burden and bureaucratic and too often left out of the design stage but the design stage is a critical stage whereby waste can often be eliminated and opportunities should be taken. As already stressed on the economic opportunities from the circular economy, **Figure 3** illustrates further the circular economy opportunities by 2030 [15].

The project team along with the Project Manager can now structure the waste management plan on the dependencies within each project, which can often be unique and unpredictable. However, it should be noted that the lack of government enforcement has been a barrier to sustainable waste management, this current

*Circular Economy - Recent Advances in Sustainable Construction Waste Management DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105050*

### **Figure 3.**

*Circular business model for 2030 vision [15].*

**Figure 4.** *Circular economy principles.*

government is trying to remove this. Over the last few years, the importance of sustainability within the construction industry has grown to become with it now being a critical aspect of many companies' policies and ideals. Sustainable Waste Management is something that companies are now looking to promote within the company such as 'zero waste' to improve their public image [16]. Though some may state these theories of zero waste are unrealistic, Kannan [17] arguably makes note that sustainable procurement in the future will become ever-increasingly important and therefore companies who promote themselves as green may take advantage of these future projects. As well as future procurement rules, construction waste management should be looked at as a cost-savings initiative as well as sustainability. The contractors should not just look at improving productivity or compressing schedules but instead first look into using their sustainable waste management as a way of making huge cost savings. In other words, the contractors and associated project managers should look at waste as not just a problem but as an asset to the project. Therefore, considering the principles of circular economy as shown in **Figure 4**, it is a closed-looped system in which raw materials, components, and products lose minimum value with maximized utilization of renewable energy resources. The circular economy will contribute to a more sustainable world as the focus of both concepts is people, planet, resources, and economy.
