Investigation of factors affecting a construction waste recycling decision

Abstract

The production of high amounts of construction waste is a serious problem in many large cities. Ineffective waste management leads to environmental, health, and safety problems. This paper examines key factors influencing construction waste recycling decisions, utilising the exploratory factor analysis approach and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). A questionnaire was used to extract key factors and subfactors of construction waste recycling. The analysis of the 107 data sets (27% of the total questionnaires sent) extracted three key factors, namely Economics, Market and Site Activities, and Environment factors. The AHP was then performed using experts’ interviews. The results revealed that the Market and Site Activities factor was the most influential factor in making waste recycling decisions, as it has the highest weight among the three factors. Critical issues of concern were the amount of recycled markets available and the intense competition in the industry. Apart from that, high cost of a specific sorting machine and company’s green image must be appraised before making a decision. Organisations can utilise the developed hierarchy model to make decisions regarding construction waste recycling. The importance weights can also be used as a guideline to prioritise recycling plans to achieve the most benefits.