Quantifying the Impact of Construction Waste Charging Scheme

5 A considerable amount of solid wastes is generated every year from construction and demolition (C&D) 6 activities in Hong Kong. The C&D waste can be classified into inert and non-inert wastes, in which the 7 inert waste is normally disposed of in public fills as reclamation materials, and the non-inert part is dumped 8 at landfills. Under the current waste generation trend, all landfills and public fills in Hong Kong would be 9 used up within the few years. To tackle this problem, in December 2005, the Hong Kong Government 10 implemented the Construction Waste Disposal Charging Scheme (CWDCS) to provide financial incentives 11 to C&D waste generators to reduce waste and encourage reuse and recycling. This paper presents the results 12 of a study to explore the perceptions of the Hong Kong construction participants towards the CWDCS after 13 its 3-years implementation. The study was conducted by a questionnaire survey with follow-up interviews 14 to experienced professionals in the building industry. The results revealed that there was no consensus view 15 among the construction participants on C&D waste reduction especially on on-site waste sorting and 16 recycling. The findings also revealed that 40% of the survey respondents believed that waste reduction is 17 less than 5% after CWDCS has been implemented. The interviewees expressed that some waste generation 18 were unavoidable despite a waste disposal charge has been imposed. In addition, 30% of survey respondents 19 agreed that the cost of CWDCS was not high enough to raise the awareness on waste management on 20 construction sites. 21 Professor, Dept. of Civil and Structural Enginneering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ., Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Email: [email protected] 2 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ., Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong (corresponding author). Email: [email protected] 3 Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ., Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. 4 Research Student, Dept. of Civil and structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ., Hung Hom, Kowloon Hong Kong This is the Pre-Published Version.