Construction & Demolition waste - What's that?
Buildings age. Modern buildings age faster. Just the same case as us humans. As we say in India, in older days people used to eat "Ghee" and now a day "Dalda". (Lol).
Historically India's traditional buildings used to last longer. Much longer. They were designed and built to suit their time frame. Construction material were stronger and sustainablly sourced. Stone, timber, mud, cow dung, bamboo. Lime was used which started to get its real strength after around 90-100 years contrary to cement, which has its strength exhausted at around 70-80 years. That too if built properly. Reinforcement corrodes and concrete buildings also do not last more than 80-90 years. This is a important aspect of Construction & Demolition waste. Anything becomes waste if only it does not have any reuse, especially in India, as as a child we were happy wearing our elder siblings's mended clothes.
So there comes real estate. Cities expand. Overstretch. Land becomes a commodity. A very valuable one. Buildings built 20-40 years ago start losing its financial logic, as the additional Floor Space Index (FSI) or Floor Area Ration (FAR) available is way expensive than the material value of the buildings standing on that land. So people move away. Bungalows get converted to high rise apartments. So there is generation of debris. A lot of it. We architects and construction managers are too busy dealing with the new buildings, the debris are left to be "managed" in the hands of the tractor walas, who throw them away at a price. They simply trade it to the real estate developer who needs some materials for back filling. The tractor trolleys with their reckless drivers sure create a nuisance to the city. But they are indispensable. Without them the home owner, the contractor and real estate developers can't survive. However, a lot of it remains to be thrown in landfills.
And then there is the problem of maintenance and up gradation. People want newer interiors. With latest materials and style. So we, interior designers start knocking some things around and start putting newer things. All that debris need to be thrown away. Landfill sites get filled faster and newer sites need to be found, far away from the existing populations. A challenge for any city authority.
So this cycle of generating waste and throwing away far from our eye sights continues.
But there is a change that has been demanded from our central government now.
As per the government of India's official figures the construction and demolition waste generated is about 530 million tonnes annually in India. Currently, the disposal of C&D waste accounts for large volume of overall landfill intakes. Diverting C&D waste from landfill is a global concern today unrivalled in recent historical times.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India has notified the Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 on 29 March 2016. The rules are an initiative to effectively tackle the issues of pollution and waste management. The rule applies to everyone, from sites which generate C&D waste to state government and local municipalities, Central government to pollution control boards. Each stakeholders have their duties and responsibilities. Time frame for Planning and Implementation of the various systems and facilities have been laid out for state governments and cities having different populations.
We all, anyone having to do with with their home renovation, real estate development or professionals from architects to construction managers. need to buckle up. Construction and demolition waste has to be considered from its current scenario and way forward has to be planned. Development and implementation of innovative and effective C&D waste management solutions need to be our focus.
Architects, civil engineers, construction management professional, real estate developers and municipal authorities everyone need to do their bit to meet mandatory obligations of the C & D management rules, 2016 of Government of India.
How?
I can share my own experience.
Back in 2007-08 while designing a small administration building for 180 Million Litre per Day sewage treatment plant for Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, on the very first site visit, I saw heaps of soil. Upon inquiry, I came to know that the soil was excavated to make the digestors for the sewage treatment plant. And the construction manager was concerned as to how much cost he would have to bear to get it thrown somewhere. And I said, "Hurrah". I knew what to do. I wanted to have fun.
Having read about mud construction, from historical times to the latest experiments globally and back in pondicherry in India, I wanted to do my bit. We could build construction blocks from it, I thought. Thankfully, the key people, the director of the construction company and the construction managers got interested with the idea. To cut the long story short, there were a lot of twists and turns before we could actually use the Compressed Earth Blocks for our buildings as the building was a government one, and they needed something which did not go out of the way, or at least met all the IS codes and statutory requirements! But finally, having good consultants for making CEBs and very very good magagement practices from the contractors we got all the required tests done, and finally built the building with those CEBs.
Similarly there have been many small small incidents, like
- Designing and making mounds for landscaping to have the debris filled underneath those mounds,
- Using scrap metal for sculpture,
- Using scrap wood for interior paneling and decoration
- Using wall paneling & paver blocks where manufacturers used C& D waste.
There is always a better way to use the waste. Especially if everyone in the team puts it best foot forward. Lets try. Lets improvise and innovate. Lets build Green.
