International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 6(10) 2019, Pages: 19-24

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International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences

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Key factors affecting construction wastes in Vietnam

Phuong Thanh Phan 1, Khoa Dang Vo 1, Quyen Le Hoang Thuy To Nguyen 2, Phong Thanh Nguyen 1, *

1Department of Project Management, Ho Chi Minh City Open University (HCMCOU), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2Office of Cooperation and Research Management, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history: As a developing country, Vietnam has a huge social demand for
Received 28 April 2019 infrastructure. Ho Chi Minh City, where plenty of construction projects are
Received in revised form made to cater to social needs, is seen as an economic center of preeminent
18 July 2019 importance. The development of construction projects in terms of quantity
Accepted 20 July 2019 entails, among other things, the burden of construction wastes. In fact, the
collection, classification, and treatment of wastes are not paid due attention
Keywords: by construction contractors. Furthermore, there remains a scarcity of
Civil engineering enterprises investing in construction waste treatment plants and poor
Construction wastes management of wastes. A major part of the waste is poorly treated, causing
Environment management negative environmental effects. Hence, this paper identified factors affecting
Project management the management of construction wastes in Vietnam. A survey was used to
collect the data for the analysis. The results illustrate that the critical factors
affecting the management of construction wastes in Vietnam are: (1)
Ecological design; (2) Optimization of design for reduction of material
consumption and construction waste; (3) Recycling and reuse of
construction wastes; (4) Workers’ awareness of construction wastes; and (5)
On-site waste sorting.

© 2019 The Authors. Published by IASE. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction one ton of solid waste to be landfilled per person

every year and construction wastes were estimated
*While construction presents as a vigorous to account for 16-40% of the waste amount
contributor to the national economy, it exerts generated. Meanwhile, Hong Kong suffered an
adverse impacts on the environment (Nguyen et al., increase by double of annual construction waste for
2018a). Construction is hardly friendly to the 9 years from 1993 to reach 20 million tons in 2004
environment, since it involves ground clearance, (Lu and Yuan, 2010; Poon et al., 2004).
demolition, and building and renovation, thereby Recent years have seen an emerging headline
generating a significant amount of construction concern for the environment on a global scale. For
waste. According to Shen et al. (2007), construction developed nations, environmental protection has
typically is in the form of debris, rubble, soil, become mandatory in all production and business
concrete, steel, wood and mixed crap from ground sectors. Especially, waste management and
clearance, usually a mixture of inert and organic treatment is of constant paramount priority.
materials. It is estimated that in 1996, around 136 Construction waste management is somewhat novel
million tons of construction and demolition debris compared to other industries such as urban solid
was generated in the US from dismantling and waste management. Reducing the generation of
reconstruction at respective proportions of 48% and construction waste in an effective manner is a
44%. In the UK, the late 1990s saw about 70 million challenge to many economies around the world.
tons of construction materials and soil wasted, Therefore, rational management of construction
corresponding to the wastage rate in the waste is critical to not only saving precious soil
construction industry of about 10-15% (Yuan, 2012). resources, but also for minimization of adverse
In Australia, the mid-90s statistics implied nearly environmental impacts. A fair response to this
challenge would bring more than social benefits, as
* Corresponding Author.
economic benefits would accompany them. That is
Email Address: [email protected] (P. T. Nguyen) why this paper defines factors affecting the
https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2019.10.004 management of construction wastes by contractors,
Corresponding author's ORCID profile: owners, and project implementers in Vietnam,
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6180-2520
2313-626X/© 2019 The Authors. Published by IASE.
thereby addressing issues of concern to the
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license management of construction waste, so as to support
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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 Phan et al/International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 6(10) 2019, Pages: 19-24

project stakeholders to make the right decisions construction waste management will heavily rely on
when they implement policies. This also helps to its related information and processes throughout the
avoid over mobilization and inefficient use of life of the project when integrated. The entire life
resources. cycle of construction waste management would
receive the energetic participation of all
2. Research background stakeholders including, government, customers,
contractors (including construction and demolition
Construction waste management, which involves contractors), suppliers and management companies,
managing the entire useful life of a project, calls and various departments (Nguyen et al., 2018b;
upon the responsibility of all stakeholders. Although Yeheyis et al., 2013). As construction waste
the majority of waste is generated from building and management process should be done within the
demolition, the incurrence of construction waste scope of project management, all stakeholders stand
must be taken into account in every stage over the responsible for it. Responsibilities of project
project life cycle (Osmani et al., 2008). Therefore, the stakeholders (Gangolells et al., 2014) were shown in
practice of construction waste management should Table 1.
emphasize the integration of an entire project’s
useful life. In other words, the overall effect of

Table 1: Responsibilities of project stakeholders

Project
Stakeholders Responsibilities/ Obligations
Stage
Customers, developers, architects, engineers and -To establish the coordination of parties;
Design
construction workers. -To set out standards for supplies and recycling of supplies.
-To coordinate and set out a construction solid waste
Customers, developers, architects, engineers and management plan;
Planning
construction workers. -To disseminate among site staff and implement the plan;
-The contractors prepare the waste disposal site as planned.
-To comply with the plan;
-To train workers;
Building Project management, engineers and workers.
-Extra commitment;
-To forecast the situation.

Construction waste management involves the design changes. Some improvements carried out
elimination, reduction, and reuse of construction onsite and with respect to construction design might
waste. Solid waste management has addressed waste greatly help reducing waste. Yeheyis et al. (2013)
reduction, recycling and reuse as necessary for the listed various categories of construction waste and
sustainable management of resources. The 3R their reusability, as shown in the Table 2.
principle refers to the three desired strategies of The past three decades has seen the huge Chinese
reduction, reuse, and recycling, which are placed in construction industry paired with rapid economic
the hierarchy of importance as follows (Tam and growth, which has greatly increased construction
Tam, 2006): (1) Reduction is deemed as the most waste. The bulk of construction waste is caused by
powerful and effective method of construction waste poor treatment, hence severe damage to the
management, since it fills two needs with one deed environment. Lu and Yuan (2010) has addressed
by preventing the production of construction waste seven important factors for the addressed 7
and reducing the cost of waste transportation, important factors for the success of construction
disposal, and recycling; (2) Reuse concerns the use waste management, namely: (1) regulation of waste
of construction materials more than once for the management, (2) waste management systems, (3)
same function, for instance, reusing formwork, and awareness of construction waste management, (4)
for new functions such as using the cutting angle of a construction technologies of low-waste footprints,
steel bar to support brackets; (3) Recycling provides (5) reducing changes in design, (6) research and
benefits for mitigated resource demands, reduced development of waste management, and (7)
transportation costs, and saved production energy, vocational training in waste management. The study
and allows the use of waste that might be buried also broadens understanding of how to reduce the
otherwise. adverse environmental consequences of
The outcomes of 3R practice as a solution for construction activities in fast-growing economies.
environmental protection in many parts of the world By investigating the hindrances to construction
have proven its effectiveness and significant waste management in Vietnam, Ling and Nguyen
socioeconomic benefits. Thanks to 3R application, (2013) proposed recommendations to effectively
the waste amount would be reduced, which invites improve the management of construction waste in
environmental quality improvements and the country, for instance: (i) using subcontractors
tremendous economic benefits. capable of managing wastes; (ii) training in conduct
Wastes from building and demolition are majorly and awareness of waste concerns; (iii) tightly
attributed to mistakes in design, material auditing and supervising subcontractors and
procurement and planning, inefficient processing of workers; (iv) serial operations to mitigate damage to
material, raw material redundancy, and unexpected

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completed works; (v) setting limits on wastage; and 2) Overlay-planning for existing workplaces, and
(vi) enforcing reward and sanction policies. 3) Setting aside spaces for precise construction
In another research, Saez et al. (2013) concluded waste management within the work area.
on the need to emphasize the elaboration of
regulations on making technical recommendations In addition, the 5 most effective practices on site
for the use of recycled materials in construction, include:
since only 8% of asked agents acknowledged using
recycled materials. This is a measure for a significant 1) Waste management contracts,
reduction of construction waste from demolition. 2) Onsite waste sorting,
Through a series of analytical procedures, the 3) Distribution of small containers in workplaces,
research has defined three powerful practices at the 4) The use of construction waste containers, and
design stage: 5) Reducing unnecessary packaging upon
procurement of raw materials.
1) Using precast or industrial technologies or
systems of low waste,

Table 2: Category of construction wastes and their recyclability

Wastes Recyclability Biodegradation Landfill Incinerability
Concrete Synthetic recycled for road pavement and concrete No Yes No
Steel Degenerated into steel material No No No
Bricks and blocks Landfilled, synthetic recycled No Yes No
Thermal insulation
Reused for roof heat-insulation or inner wall soundproofing No No Yes
materials
Glass Degenerated into pure glass for cement manufacture No Yes No
Bricks Recycled into raw materials and concrete raw aggregates No Yes No
Aluminum Degenerated into aluminum Some No No
Plastic Recycled in any form Some No Yes
Paint Reused as paint or concrete additives Yes No Yes
Wood Recycled into plywood, pulp Yes Yes Yes
Plaster Recycled into new boards, crushed into chips that can be made
Yes No No
board into new boards
Packaging, cartons Recycled into organic fertilizers, fuel, paper Yes Yes Yes

Effective management of construction waste is studies and opinions of experts to preliminarily

indispensable to the sustainable development of identify the factors affecting construction waste
infrastructure. So far, generous effort has been made management.
to assess construction waste management. However,  Step 2: Empirical survey: After a factor model
most such endeavors have focused on construction was proposed, a questionnaire was designed.
waste management from only a narrow or specific Then the questionnaire was piloted, and the trial
field like economics. Meanwhile, little attention has survey results were analyzed. Next, the
been paid to social and environmental aspects, questionnaire was revised and the official
which are in fact naturally a must for promotion of questionnaire went live on a mass scale.
construction waste management. Yuan (2013) from  Step 3: Analysis and conclusions: After the
a holistic perspective identified 30 key indicators survey data were collected, data analysis started.
affecting the overall effectiveness of construction Based on the analysis results, conclusions were
waste management. He also proposed a framework drawn and recommendations were made.
to evaluate the effectiveness of construction waste
management, which is based on the integration of Data collection was done by questionnaire
key indicators as defined (Chang and Tsai, 2015). survey. The questionnaire was designed to gather
This evaluation framework not only gives further data for probing the importance of factors affecting
insight into the effectiveness of construction waste the construction waste management process. A 5-
management, but also lays the ground for future level Likert scale was used, addressing levels from 1
research on evaluating the effectiveness of “very minor” to 5 “very important” (Huynh et al.,
construction waste management. 2019). The questionnaire then entered an official
By reviewing the available literature at home and stage, where it was distributed in masse to engineers
abroad, the authors have grounds to propose factors with projects in Ho Chi Minh City. The survey results
affecting construction waste management in were gathered by direct interview or via email.
Vietnam as in the Table 3. To minimize and summarize the data, the authors
conducted an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA).
3. Research methodology This analytical method is used when the relationship
between observed variables and latent variables is
The research process consisted of the following ambiguous and uncertain. The first key requirement
three steps: of this method is that the KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin)
value must be between 0.5 and 1. For the analysis to
 Step 1: Literature review: After determining the be conducted, Principle Components Analysis is used
research objective, the authors consulted past as the extraction method together with Varimax

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rotation. Hair et al. (2014) stated that factor loading significance is implied by a factor-loading indicator
implies the practical significance of EFA. A practical being greater than 0.5.

Table 3: Summary of factors affecting the management of solid construction waste in construction projects
Factors Source
Lu and Yuan (2010),
Fewer design changes
Yuan (2013)
Waste management regulations Lu and Yuan (2010)
Lifecycle waste management Lu and Yuan (2010)
Lu and Yuan (2010),
Improving communication amongst project participants
Esa et al. (2017)
Lu and Yuan (2010), Yuan (2013),
Practitioners’ awareness of construction waste
Esa et al. (2017)
Vocational training in waste management Lu and Yuan (2010), Esa et al. (2017)
Lu and Yuan (2010), Wang et al.
Onsite construction and demolition waste sorting (2010),
Saez et al. (2013)
Construction and demolition waste recycling and reuse Lu and Yuan (2010)
Optimize design sections to reduce the amount of material used, and as a consequence the
Saez et al. (2013)
construction and demolition waste generation
Designating a waste management plan coordinator who is responsible for ensuring that the plan is
Esa et al. (2017)
followed onsite
All the stakeholders are involved in the coordination of the waste management plan Esa et al. (2017)
Eco-design Esa et al. (2017)
The amounts and types of construction waste are estimated for each of the construction activities
Esa et al. (2017)
conducted
Market for recycled materials Wang et al. (2010)
Safety of operatives in conducting construction and demolition waste management Yuan (2013)
Consideration of construction and demolition waste reduction in design Yuan (2013)

4. Results and Discussion to deepen their relationships with construction

waste managers, who can prove innovative solutions
In total 85 engineers engaged in projects in for minimization and recycling of waste instead of
Vietnam were surveyed, of which 35 participants waste treatment (Azevedo et al., 2014; Phong et al.,
came from contractor companies (41%), 17 from 2018). This approach gives designers and
design consultancy units (20%), 14 from supervisory construction waste managers a chance to reduce
consultancy units (17%), 11 from project waste on a more holistic scale.
management units (13%), and 8 from investors Green Building Guidelines have become a
(9%). The groups of critical factors in construction powerful tool to promote waste reduction strategies
waste management are ranked by the descending and practices in construction (Potbhare et al., 2009).
order of mean values, as shown below in Table 4. Among the top pre-eminent green building rating
systems is the US’s Leadership in Energy and
Table 4: Top five critical factors affecting construction Environmental Design (LEED). LEED covers the
waste management rankings of different building types ranging from
Critical factors Mean Rank
Ecological design 3.98 1
new constructions, existing buildings, commercial
Optimization of design for reduction of material interiors, core and shell, schools, retail, health care,
3.92 2
consumption and construction waste homes, and neighborhood development. Regardless
Recycling and reuse of construction waste 3.91 3 of the differences in construction methods, the
Workers’ awareness of construction waste 3.74 4
On site construction waste-sorting 3.69 5 prerequisites and credits of the ranking system are
divided into six areas:
Ecological design was the most critical factors
influencing construction waste management in (1) Sustainable sites;
Vietnam. A variety of technologies and innovative (2) Water efficiency;
solutions have been incorporated into the ecological (3) Energy and atmosphere;
design to help better manage resources. Ecological (4) Materials and resources;
design technology has been widely applied in the (5) Indoor environmental quality; and
industries of waste conversion, architecture, (6) Innovation in design.
landscape design, environmental protection, and
restoration. It was concluded by Keys et al. (2000) Among the 6 credit categories, water efficiency
that services and products of design and and materials and resources definitively address the
construction companies are more and more inclined concern of construction waste management in
to the pursuit of safety, ecological friendliness, and building operations. Some other concrete elements
wastage reduction. By emphasizing the of LEED system highlight the points that can be
concentration of waste at the design stage of projects probed by effective waste management during the
and construction development, wastage reduction construction stage.
focus would be transferred from the “construction Previous studies have shown that construction
site” to a “design concern”. This prompts waste management has not been a priority in the
stakeholders in the design and construction process design process. Moreover, architects seem to
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attribute the bulk of construction waste to onsite the local classification of waste. Projects of all types
activities and almost nothing to the design phase. tend to treat construction waste in place as an
However, in substance, about one-third of indispensable part of the construction process.
construction waste can arise from design decisions.
Osmani et al. (2008) conducted a study to investigate 5. Conclusion
how architects stand on the sources of design waste
and waste reduction design practice in the United Construction waste management will help with
Kingdom as well as barriers against waste reduction. increasing the efficiency of material consumption,
The research reveals that most architects were decreasing pollution, and creating a green
reluctant to integrate waste reduction strategies into construction environment. The primary purpose of
their projects. Architects are willing to work with this study is to identify factors affecting construction
consultants and contractors in reducing design waste management. The study has addressed 16
waste only when customers require and agree to factors governing the effectiveness of construction
give bonuses for waste research and minimization. waste management. Among of them, the 5 main
Eliminating waste in the design phase is considered factors in high need of concern include ecological
an advanced or exceptional aspect rather than a core design, optimization of design for reduction of
of the building design process. On the other hand, material consumption and construction waste,
architects insist on some obstacles in reducing waste recycling and reuse of construction wastes, workers’
by design, particularly waste awareness and awareness of construction waste, and onsite waste
unknown essential causes of design waste, customer sorting.
requirements, and non-identification of
responsibilities. In contrast, laws and rewards are Acknowledgment
seen as major incentives that can greatly impact
design waste minimization. In bottom lines, waste The authors would like to say thank Ho Chi Minh
elimination in design phase requires a Open University (Vietnam) for supporting this
comprehensive assessment of design waste, which research.
helps assessing the impacts on changes in a waste
reduction design model. Therefore, architects should Compliance with ethical standards
assume a decisive role in the reduction of
construction wastes in all phases by concentrating Conflict of interest
their efforts on design waste reduction. To maximize
their role, architects need to be aware of the chances The authors declare that they have no conflict of
for prevention of wastes and necessary means to interest.
improve waste reduction.
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