A Study on the Characteristics of Construction Wastes Generated from Demolition of Buildings in the Housing Environment Amelioration District

The amount of construction waste increased to 176,447 ton/day in 2008 from 28,400 ton/day in 2000, a 6-fold increase in just 10 years. Such dramatic increase in the waste of concrete, asphalt concrete, wood and metals was due to demolition of old buildings as well as a great number of building redevelopment projects and hurried city industrialization. Many buildings targeted for demolition today were built in line with the government policy to provide affordable housing to citizens in the shortest time possible and consequently, said buildings underwent rapid deterioration and required periodic repairs and reconstruction. Based on the above, we predict that construction waste will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. In particular, due to limited availability of suitable space to construct apartments and residential buildings in the city, old buildings are being torn down to make space for new development, further increasing construction waste. In light of that, efforts to recycle as well as reduce generated waste are urgently required.