State-of-the-art review on construction and demolition waste: The South African context

Abstract

The study presents an extensive and in-depth review of construction and demolition waste (CDW) in South Africa. An overview of the legislation governing waste, current waste management practices and the challenges encountered are presented. Findings show that illegal dumping is prevalent, while landfilling is the most common method of waste management with 65% of general waste, and 48% of CDW being deposited in scarce landfills, leading to health, environmental and economic consequences. The severity of the landfill scarcity is highlighted in the Cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, the economic hubs of provinces which together account for 48% and 53% of South Africa’s GDP and construction activities respectively but have less than 5 years of landfill airspace. Findings further reveal that CDW data is not up-to-date and largely underreported due to the omission of informal waste management practices from official statistics, the complexity of the construction industry, the authorities' ineffectiveness, and the lack of measurement mechanisms and infrastructure. The challenges and strategies implemented to improve CDW management such as recycling, recovery, government fiscal incentives and legislation are highlighted and benchmarked against selected countries and regions of the world, aiming to identify strengths and weaknesses, and subsequently adopt international best practices. The study also recommends applying innovative and digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, geographic information systems, and building information modelling in CDW management, including specific areas where they can be applied in the South African context.