Construction Debris Management Plan for Sustainable Structures

Abstract

Construction, maintenance & operations (M&O) and demolition of structures are engineering activities that could have an adverse impact to the environment when a Waste Management Plan (WMP) is not implemented before, during and after each of the above mentioned activities started. In order to Owners and General Contractors reduce the risk of having additional project costs due to federal and state environmental legal claims, they shall take in consideration including as part of the operations a WMP that could be implemented throughout any of the structure life cycle (Construction-M&O-Demolition.). Modern construction practices require sustainable design and planning for managing waste and pollution reduction. Including a WMP as part of any of the above mentioned engineering activities, will definitely reduce the possibility of having an environmental violation that could have a negative effect to the project budget. In this article, I presented a case summary and suggested recommendations that can be helpful to Owners and General Contractors for managing construction debris by the implementation of waste reduction, diversion, reuse and recycling techniques, as part of a WMP. Key Terms - Asbestos, Autoridad de Edificios Públicos, NESHAP, Waste Management Plan.