RECYCLING RATES OF RENOVATION WORKS

Abstract

The renovation industry has grown tremendously over the past ten to twenty years. However not in concordance to its growth, there has been a lack of attention given to this industry. Analysts and researchers have focused their studies on environmental impacts cause by activities from a new construction or demolition works. However, studies in Norway show that the energy consumption and material waste generated from a renovation work might not be less than the consumption or generation from a new construction (Bergsdal et al., 2007). In line with Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)’s plan to develop a lakeside destination for business and leisure, Jurong Lake District, was the motivation behind this dissertation. In the next 10 to 15 years, a massive transformation of activities from the Construction and Demolition (C&D) industry is foreseen. Major transformation includes activities such as removal, alterations and construction of buildings will be seen. These activities will results in an increase of waste materials generated from the C&D industry. Therefore it is vital to understand the position where the contractors in Singapore fare in terms of recycling to reduce the environmental impacts that will be inflicted. A review on studies conducted overseas was done to identify the common waste materials generated overseas, to understand how recycling rates of waste materials were establish and what the methods of waste treatment used are. This dissertation aims at identifying the position at which contractors in Singapore are at, with regards to recycling of waste materials, and also at identifying the common waste materials and the treatment of the different materials generated during a typical renovation project in Singapore, as well as to try establishing recycling rates of the waste materials generated. Site visits were conducted and the findings from the visits are used to verify the results gathered from the surveys and interviews conducted earlier. This dissertation will also highlight the measures that the Government could take to upgrade the industry and what the common players of the industry could employ to help reduce environmental impact from the generation of waste.