Effectiveness of Waste Management Control Systems in Bloemfontein

Construction industry is regarded as one of the major producers of waste. With the increase of construction waste in South Africa, due to it being a developing country, effective management of construction waste has become key. The study aims at identifying and assessing the effectiveness of waste management control systems in Bloemfontein area of South Africa. The study used survey research design. A review of published and peer-reviewed literature was used to create open-ended questionnaire for construction professionals. Sixty-two copies of questionnaires were administered to contractors who are registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) under the “general building works” class with grades ranging from four to nine out of which 25 duly completed questionnaires were received back. The results indicated that landfill is the most widely used current waste management system by the contractors in the study area. Also, the findings showed that inadequate planning is the factor that is most responsible for waste generation in the study area. Further, planning and design strategies is seen as the practice which is the most effective to minimize waste. Overall, the most effective measure to use to control waste was that of ordering exact material quantities. The study concluded that these findings will allow practitioners to re-think the subject of construction waste and how to effectively manage, minimize and prevent it in order to contribute towards sustainability.