Construction waste estimation methods: a systematic literature review

Abstract

To date, researchers and governments have paid increasing attention to the zero-waste goal as an effective solution to alleviate the environmental impacts of construction projects towards sustainability. Accurate estimation of construction waste is a prerequisite for an effective waste management plan to achieve zero-waste construction sites. In literature, various methods have been adopted to estimate construction waste generation at the project level. However, there is a lack of an evaluation of existing construction waste estimation methods at the project level in terms of the information that the methods can provide to facilitate construction waste minimisation in a construction project. Hence, a systematic literature review was conducted in this study to bridge the research gap. Twenty-eight papers were selected based on the PRISMA approach and categorised into five estimation methods: area-based waste generation rate, variables modelling method, bill of quantity-based classification system accumulation method, BIM-based classification system accumulation method, and other particular methods. The applicability of those methods to aid practitioners towards construction waste minimisation was analysed based on four aspects: design information requirements, the ability to use in the early design stage, project characteristics, and the ability of waste tracking by material type and construction element.