33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) - Osaka and Kyoto, Japan - 2025

https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0295

Leaner Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) Management: Practitioners’ Insights

Saleh Alazmi1, Imelda Saran Piri2, Oisik Das3, Mohammed Abdelmegid4, Mani Poshdar5 & Vicente A Gonzalez6

1PhD, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Auckland, New Zealand, [email protected]
2Lecturer, School of Future Environment, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4002-5187
3Professor (bitr), Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, [email protected], https://orcid.org/000-0002-5474-1512
4Lecturer, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, UK, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9132-2985
5Associate Professor, School of Future Environment, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9132-2985
6Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Digital Lean Construction, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3408-3863

Abstract

The construction sector has a substantial impact on the environment, primarily due to its excessive resource and energy consumption, along with significant waste production. Construction accounts for a third of the world's total waste and around 40% of global CO2 emissions. The phases of material production, construction, the facility’s useful life, and end-of-life components have been widely studied for their role in environmental pollution. Whilst minimising waste holds the highest priority in construction waste management, understanding the sources of construction waste can support effective reduction strategies. This paper aims to explore the relationship between the origins of construction and demolition waste (CDW), lean practices, construction productivity, and the associated environmental impacts. A quantitative research method was adopted, using a survey questionnaire to identify correlations between CDW origins, construction productivity, and environmental impacts. Findings revealed that 62% of CDW origins have a greater impact on the environment than on productivity. Additionally, eight specific CDW origins showed statistically significant relationships with the tested environmental variables. These insights can promote evidence-based decision-making by construction practitioners in developing effective strategies for waste minimisation.

Keywords

Construction and demolition waste, Lean construction, Construction productivity, Environmental impacts, Sustainability.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Alazmi, S., Piri, I. S., Das, O., Abdelmegid, M., Poshdar, M. & Gonzalez, V. A.. (2025). Leaner Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) Management: Practitioners’ Insights. In Seppänen, O., Koskela, L., & Murata , K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) (pp. 1173–1184). https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0295

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Alazmi, S., Piri, I. S., Das, O., Abdelmegid, M., Poshdar, M. & Gonzalez, V. A.. (2025). Leaner Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) Management: Practitioners’ Insights. IGLC33. https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0295

 

Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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