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NREB

Natural Resources and Environment Board

Sarawak

Managing Construction Waste - A Sarawak Experience

January 2004

DANIDA Danish International Development Assistance

Danida / Sarawak Government UEMS Project

Natural Resources and Environment Board

Managing Construction Waste

- A Sarawak Experience

January 2004

Note no. UEMS_TEC_03-27

Issue no. 1

Date of issue 26 January 2004

Prepared THH

Checked ILA

Approved

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Managing Construction Waste – A Sarawak Experience

Tang Hung Huong1

, Ib Larsen2

1. Background

In Malaysia construction waste is generally not properly managed. Managing the

construction waste is normally the responsibility of developers and contractors. This

responsibility is stipulated by the authorities as one of the conditions for approval

of the projects, whether in EIAs or in building permits. However, the conditions are

often formulated in very general terms, which do not give any specific direction to

the developers or contractors. The conditions usually mainly concern cleanliness of

the site.

No precise information is available on the amount, management or disposal of

construction waste. No proper recording on the construction waste and its fate is

normally performed. Today, no dedicated construction waste treatment facility has

been established. Thus, landfilling is the only legal option for disposal, however,

with different scenario and conditions in the local areas.

As the fees charged at landfills are expected to increase, in line with the

environmental improvements of landfill sites, the risk for illegal dumping of

construction waste are expected to increase simultaneously. This is due to the large

amounts of construction waste and the consecutive economic consequences of the

rising fees.

Illegal dumping of construction waste in Sarawak is already substantial. A survey of

illegal dumpsites around Kuching in 2002 identified 62 new illegal dumpsites. An

investigation of its composition indicates that more than half the illegal dumped

waste at the sites derives from construction works.

1 Environmental Control Officer, Natural Resources and Environment Board, Sarawak

2 Chief Technical Advisor for Sarawak Government – DANCED Sustainable Urban Development (SUD)

Project (1999-2002) and Sarawak Government-DANIDA Urban Environmental Management System

(UEMS) Project (2002-2006)



When properly sorted, construction waste is inert, posing no hazardous treat to the

environment. At the same time sorted construction waste can be recycled at low

costs, and the non-recyclable inert materials can be deposited at separate landfills

dedicated for inert materials at a similar low cost. Therefore, a facility for recycling

of construction waste should be established. This would help improving the

management of construction waste and assist in combating illegal dumping.

2. Construction waste in Kuching

2.1 Generation

Presently, no proper registration of construction waste is taking place in Sarawak. In

order to design a strategy for managing construction waste, it is however, required

to establish an overview of the generated waste amounts and types.

The Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB), assisted by DANCED3

(Danish

Cooperation for Environment and Development) therefore in 2001 undertook some

estimations of the amount of construction waste generated. The estimations were

based on size of building area being constructed; international standards for

construction waste per capita and calculation of truckloads of construction waste

from large construction sites. Based on the calculations it was estimated that

approximately 100,000 tonnes of construction waste were generated in Kuching per

year4

.

This amount corresponds to the amount of residential waste generated in the City

per year (95,000 tonnes).

This amount of construction waste is expected to increase dramatically in the future,

in view of the rapid growth of the City. Presently the City mainly grows by

expanding its geographical area. Therefore only minor amounts of demolition waste

are generated. However, when renewal of existing build-up areas takes off, the

amount of construction waste is expected to increase many fold.

3 DANCED was dissolved and replaced by DANIDA (Danish International Development Assistance) since

2002 4 Tang et al. (2003). “Solid Waste Management in Kuching”. Sarawak Government-Danida 2003, p.79



The composition of construction waste in Kuching was also estimated. The

estimations were based on surveys at a few major construction sites5

. The findings

are tabulated in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Typical fractions and compositions of construction waste in Sarawak

Waste fractions Composition (%)

Concrete 80

Wood 15

Paper, plastics, cardboard 1

Metal 4

Transportation

Based on the observations made during the above surveys at major construction

sites, it can roughly be estimated that 50% of the construction waste does not leave

the construction site at all. It is either used for site preparation, dumped onsite or

open burnt6

.

The remaining construction waste is transported by private transporters engaged by

developers or contractors. Some of the waste is disposed of at informal dumpsites

on private land and some of the waste is illegal dumped at road reserves or idle

land. Only minor amounts are received at the public dumpsite. There are five main

contractors, which transport most of the construction waste. About 50 private tipper

trucks are involved in transporting the waste. Large construction sites require, on

average, 5 trips per day to dispose the waste generated. For smaller construction

sites such as the construction of residential houses, only 0.5 trips per day are

usually required7

. Scrap metal is usually collected for recycling.

Construction waste from small-scale renovation works are transported by a large

number of small transporters. A large part of such waste ends up at the identified

illegal dumpsites.

5 Tang et al. (2003). “Solid Waste Management in Kuching”. Sarawak Government-Danida 2003, p.82

6 Tang et al. (2003). “Solid Waste Management in Kuching”. Sarawak Government-Danida 2003, p.112-

113. 7 Tang et al. (2003). “Solid Waste Management in Kuching”. Sarawak Government-Danida 2003, p.103



2.3 Disposal

The only legal facility available for disposal of construction waste for Kuching City is

the Matang dump site which is located about 14 km northwest of the Kuching city

centre at Jalan Matang. This facility hardly receives any construction waste8

.

2.4 Composition of Illegal Dumped Waste

The composition of the waste found at the illegal dumpsites has also been also

determined. Based on site observations, it can be confirmed, that the majority of

waste dumped is related to construction activities. On top of the specific

construction waste found (concrete, bricks etc.) around 70% of scrap metals and

wooden crates for packaging are observed to originate from construction sites.

Therefore, it is estimated that not less than 50% of the waste dumped illegally

derives from construction works.

Figure 1 below shows the composition of illegal dumped waste surveyed in 20019

.

Scrap metals

16%

Green waste

3%Rubbish (non

combustile)

10%

Saw dust

8%

Wooden crates

25%

Construction waste

25%

Rubbish

(combustile)

11%

Figure 1: Composition of illegally dumped waste

8 The Matang facility was closed in December 2003, when the new sanitary landfill at Mambong 20 km

south of town opened up for receiving waste. However, the Matang facility still receives construction waste,

as this waste is used for the safe closure measurements for the dumpsite. Construction waste is received at

RM12/tonne or RM40/truck. Nevertheless, the facility still only receives very limited amount of

construction waste 9 Tang et al. (2003). “Solid Waste Management in Kuching”. Sarawak Government-Danida 2003, p. 117



3. Current Regulation on Construction Waste

Management in Sarawak

3.1 General Legal Regulatory Tools

Regulatory tools set the framework for the actions of individual actors in society.

The regulatory tools can be divided into 3 categories:

Prior approvals – an approval must be obtained before the activity can be

initiated

Rules – Activities have to apply to certain specified criteria applicable to all

similar activities

Orders - specific directions issued to individual activities – when orders are

used as the regulatory tool, the current practises of the activates will remain

legal until an order is issued

Prior approvals can be in the form of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA),

License or Permission.

Rules can be prohibitions to perform certain activities, or it can specify criteria for

performing certain activities or specify standards for discharge of the residues from

the activity.

Orders are specific directions to individual construction sites to stop certain

activities or to carry out certain activities.

In 2001, the NREB with assistance of the DANCED scrutinised the existing regulatory

provisions of relevance for construction sites in Sarawak10

. Regarding prior

approvals, EIAs and permissions are used. Permissions are currently required for

construction works (building and occupation permits) and for disposal of waste at

other sites than dedicated landfills. Regarding rules, only prohibition towards

disposal of waste outside dedicated areas is used. Orders can be issued by a

10

Larsen, Ib (2001). “Current Regulations on Solid and Liquid wastes in Sarawak”. Sarawak Government-

DANCED 2001.



number of agencies. An overview of existing regulatory principles is given in Table 2

below:

Table 2: Existing regulatory principles in Sarawak on solid waste

Category Principle Example

Prior approvals EIA

Permission

Conditions in EIAs for construction sites

Permission for specific disposal activities

Rules Prohibition Prohibition against disposal of waste outside

designated areas

Orders Orders and

directives

Specific directions to individual sites on the

manner in which waste should be handled,

prepared and deposited for collection and

removal

3.2 Existing Regulation for Construction Waste In Sarawak

Construction waste can be regulated at all steps of its waste flow: generation

transportation and disposal. In the following, the existing regulation will be

presented, divided into the 3 steps of the waste flow.

3.2.1 Generators (Construction Sites)

According to Section 11a of the Natural Resources and Environment Ordinance

(NREO), an EIA from the NREB is required prior to the commencement of the project

for housing estates larger than 10 ha and for industrial estates. In the EIA

conditions, it is possible to include provisions on the solid waste management.

However, such conditions have only rarely been given.

Waste related conditions usually focus on the cleanliness of the sites after

completion, but do not include the management of the solid waste during the

construction period or the disposal of the solid waste, which are transported away

from the site.

Conditions may include a deposit to be paid to the relevant local council. The

release of the deposit after project completion will depend on the cleanliness (clean-

up) of the site and will currently not depend on the legal disposal of the waste.



The EIA requirement does not apply to the majority of projects, which are less than

10 ha. However, such projects still require a building permit issued by local

authorities prior to commencement of the project and an occupation permit (OP)

before the building can be occupied. The council may attach relevant conditions to

the permissions. Conditions could include the solid waste management. However,

currently such conditions are rarely given.

When conditions on solid waste are actually given in EIAs and permissions, they are

often of general character, which do not allow for concrete enforcement11

.

According to section 112 of the Local Authorities Ordinance (LAO), the local

authorities may issue orders towards accumulation of waste (accumulation of

deposit). According to section 46 of the Local Authorities Cleanliness Bylaw (LAC),

the local authorities may also issue orders on periodically removal of waste from the

premises. However, the above mentioned surveys did not identify situations, where

these provisions have been utilised towards construction sites.

According to section 9 (4) of the LAC the local authorities can direct premises on the

manner in which the waste should be handled, prepared or deposited for collection

and removal.

The last provisions give the local authorities power to act in individual cases of

obvious unsatisfactory waste management at construction sites. However, using

orders as the regulatory measure restricts the efforts to a case-to-case basis.

3.2.2 Transporters

According to section 9 of the LAC, the local authorities may determine or establish a

system for the collection, removal and disposal of waste of any description. This

provision is the main warrant for the public solid waste collection schemes.

According to section 9 (3), the authorities may appoint any company to undertake

11

EIA conditions currently used may include “Construction waste should be regularly collected and

transported out for disposal at approved dumping ground”. “Waste to be disposed of regularly to the nearest

approved disposal site within the project site or other government approved site”



these services. However, the public waste collection schemes typically only focus on

domestic waste. For the case of the Kuching City, the waste collection has been

contracted or delegated to a German company, Trienekens (Sarawak) Sdn. Bhd. In

principle the scheme includes construction waste. However, in practise only

insignificant amount of construction waste is collected according the public

collection scheme.

The majority of the construction waste is collected by private transporters.

According to the section 51 of the LAC, the local authorities may determine that

transportation of industrial waste12

require a license from the councils. The

authorities may attach conditions to the license. Such conditions may e.g. relate to

the collection of the waste, to spillage and to the disposal sites that may be utilised

by the transporter. However, the power to impose such licensing as criteria for

transporting the waste has not yet been utilised.

3.2.3 Disposal

Under the Section 42 of LAC, the local authorities may as part of the collection and

removal system for waste, provide disposal facilities. However, according to Section

42(2) the authorities may also refuse to accept waste brought to public disposal

facilities. This is especially relevant for construction waste, which may be rejected

due to the vast amount. This has e.g. been the case for the town of Kapit. In such

case, the local authorities according to Section 43(2) of the LAC may require the

workplaces of premises to construct and operate disposal facilities for their own

wastes.

Such waste disposal sites and other waste facilities require an EIA according to the

NREO section 11a. Establishing disposal facilities further require permission from

the local authorities according to LAC section 43(1). Any person who intends to

dispose of solid waste to any other land requires permission from the NREB

according to the NREO section 30.

12

According to section 2 of the LAC, industrial waste includes construction waste



According to section 51 of the LAC the local authorities may further decide that

waste disposal require a license from the local council. This power has current not

been utilised.

As it appears, a number of provisions are actually available to regulate the

management of construction waste. However, the existing provisions are currently

not much used. This is do large extent due to fact that no coherent strategy and

system for the desired management is in place.

A summary of these regulations is showed in Table 3.

Table 3: Existing regulation on disposal for solid waste in Sarawak

Regulation Section Detail Description

LAC

42 (1)

Local authorities may as part of the

collection and removal system for waste,

provide disposal facilities

42 (2) Local authorities may refuse to accept waste

brought to public disposal facilities

43 (1) Permission by local authorities to establish

disposal facilities is required.

43 (2) Local authorities may require the workplaces

of premises to construct and operate

disposal facilities for their own wastes

51 Local authorities may further decide that

waste disposal require a license from the

local council

NREO 11a Waste disposal sites and other waste

facilities require an EIA by NREB

30 Any person who intends to dispose of solid

waste to any other land requires permission

from the NREB

On the other hand, vast regulation is in place regarding what not to do with the

construction waste. In the following section, we will look into this regulation.

Provisions against Illegal Dumping

A number of ordinances contain provisions towards illegal dumping of waste. The

provisions are often overlapping and some times even contradictorily. Activities that

may require permission according to one ordinance may be strictly prohibited



according to another ordinance. As a consequence many different departments are

involved in activities towards illegal dumping.

In 2001, the NREB with assistance of the DANCED scrutinised the existing regulatory

provisions towards illegal dumping, and proposed adjustments13

.

Table 4 below states the existing provisions on illegal dumping in Sarawak.

Table 4 Existing regulations on illegal dumping in Sarawak

Agency Provision

Local Authorities

LAO 111/112

LAC 13, 18, 20, 44

Power to issue orders

Prohibition against dumping

Natural Resources and

Environment Board (NREB)

NREO 30

NREO 30B

Prohibition – unless permitted

Prohibition – unless carrying

out an activity otherwise

permitted

Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB)14

SRC 15

SRC 16

Prohibition

Notification

Department of Environment

(DOE) 15

EQA SR 10

EQA 21

EQA 31

Prohibition – unless prior

permission

Power to issue standards

Power to issue orders

Additional specific regulations are inserted in the Water Ordinance, the Veterinary

Public Health Ordinance and the Protection of Public Health Ordinance among others.

Data

Improving the management of construction waste first of all require information on

the amount, types and flow of construction waste. As mentioned above no proper

recording of construction waste is currently taking place.

13

Jensen, Hanne and Larsen, Ib (2002). “Regulation of Illegal Dumping of Solid Waste to Land in

Sarawak”. Sarawak Government-DANCED 2002 14

Sarawak Rivers Board is only involved in those activities taking place along the banks of gazetted rivers 15

DOE is only involved in those activities where disposal of waste has a deteriorating impact on the

environment



According to LAC section 47, the local authorities can direct enterprises to provide

data on the amount and management of the waste. However, the directions have to

be issued to the individual enterprises and repeated from time to time, making it a

measure unsuitable as background for acquiring the required information.

4 Future Management of Construction Waste

Based on the above situation, a strategy for improved management of construction

waste is required. Such a strategy must include a number of components:

To ensure that a legal cost-efficient, easy accessible and environmental

friendly technical disposal system is available.

To ensure that the required legal provisions to direct the waste streams

towards the established system are adopted.

To ensure that non-desired means of disposing construction waste are made

illegal.

To ensure the provision of sufficient data on the waste flow to manage the

waste streams.

4.1 Physical Improvements

First of all, legal cost-efficient and easy accessible facilities for the desired treatment

or recycling of the construction waste have to be made available. Legal provisions

on the management of construction waste will have no meaning if no proper legal

technical option is available.

When pre-sorted properly, construction waste is generally inert and easily recyclable.

At the same time, disposal of pre-sorted construction waste at modern sanitary

landfills is normally not desired, due the high cost of establishing sanitary landfills

and the low potential environmental impact imposed from the construction waste.

Only a certain amount of construction waste is requested by the landfills for internal



roads, coverage etc. The major part of the waste may instead be recycled and the

remaining non-recyclable part be deposited in less expensive inert landfills16

.

Establishing a recycling plant for construction waste is therefore a major component

of the construction waste strategy for the city of Kuching. The plant is proposed

located at the new state-of-the-art landfill at Mambong, or at the former abandoned

landfill in Matang. Previously constructed landfills cells are still available for locating

the recycling facility here.

Picture 1: Construction Waste Recycling, Denmark

In principle, a recycling plant for construction waste should be economically self-

sustaining. Large parts of the city are located on low-laying totally levelled areas and

large parts are located on unstable ground (peat swamp or soft-clay). At the same

time the city is growing fast, with many development projects taking place

simultaneously. This situation imposes a large demand for land reclamation- and

construction materials. Due to the specific geological features access to virgin

materials in the vicinity at the same time is limited.

16

Lauritzen, Erik (2001).“The challenge of Recycling Construction and Demolition Waste – focusing on

the city of Kuching Sarawak”. In Chong et. al.“Environmental Performance”. Sarawak Government-

DANCED 2001



However, virgin gravel materials can still be acquired for very low price (RM18 RM

per tonne). This fact reduces the demand for recycled material seriously. The supply

of construction waste for the recycling plant therefore has to be ensured by

legislation, strict enforcement and increased awareness. This situation creates a

delicate chicken-and-egg situation, as nobody would invest in a recycling plant if the

legislation is not in place and the legislation cannot be put in place, as there is no

legal facility available.

An important approach for the strategy therefore is to establish the facility and

adopt new regulation simultaneously.

4.2 Legal Improvements

The possible legal improvements are currently being discussed. Experiences from

regulation of construction waste in other countries have also been collected17

. Some

of the ideas that have been presented are discussed below.

4.2.1 Generation

To improve construction waste management, the waste flow has to be organised

right from the generation of the waste.

The construction waste has to be pre-sorted according to the different types of

subsequent treatment and stored at proper dedicated areas at the site until removal.

The developer should be requested to prepare a detailed waste management plan.

The waste management plan may include:

Documentation of waste storage on site (including a site lay-out map)

Logistic information from waste generation to disposal

Waste amounts and types

transporters engaged and disposal sites used

Internal waste organisation including appointed responsible staff.

17

Madsen, Lisbeth (2001). “Establishment of a Collection and Treatment System for Construction and

Demolition Waste in Sarawak”. Sarawak Government-Danced 2001



In most countries, the preparation of this plan is the responsibility of the developer,

although the actual construction work usually is contracted to a large or small

number of contractors. The developer will remain fully liable throughout the

implementation of the project. This requires the developer to be very careful when

preparing contracts, and to establish an internal site inspection function18

. The

responsibility of the developer does not abolish the parallel responsibility of

contractors actually performing (or not-performing) the required tasks.

For smaller construction sites, the pre-sorting may be unfeasible. In such cases,

construction waste can often be delivered to the disposal site non-sorted, but this

will typically impose a higher fee at the treatment facility, as the facility will have to

undertake the sorting process.

The requirement of the waste management plan should be imposed as a condition

in the EIAs for large development, and should be punishable in case of non-

compliance. Similar conditions should be imposed in building permits, and

subsequently occupation permits should be depending on compliance with the

waste management plan.

The state government of Sarawak has decided that a deposit shall be imposed on

new development projects. The release of the deposit should similarly be depending

on compliance with the waste management plan.

4.2.2 Transportation and treatment

As described above, nearly no construction waste is currently received at the legal

disposal or treatment facilities in Kuching. This underlines the size of the task

improving construction waste management.

In many countries, the proper disposal of the waste remains the responsibility of the

developer. Upon completion of the development project, it is a duty of the

developer to document that all construction waste has been delivered to legal

disposal sites. In Denmark, it is the duty of the developer to keep the

18

Copenhagen EPA: “MIljomaessige forholdsregler ved bygge- og anlaegsarbejder” Copenhagen EPA

2001, section 2



documentation for legal disposal for 5 years. This will typically be in the form of

receipts for payment, whereby the transactions can be compared to the records at

transporters and disposal facilities.

In Denmark, the developer has to notify the authorities on the amount of

construction waste that is expected to be produced before commencement of the

project implementation. The authorities then after the project completion can

request the documentation for the legal disposal of the notified amounts. The

presence of construction waste at a construction site, which is not notified, is an

offence, which may be penalised.

The issuing of occupation permits and release of deposits should be made subject

to the documentation of legal disposal of the construction waste.

The liability of the developer for the legal disposal is often objective, meaning that it

makes no different if a transporter dispose of the waste illegally without the consent

of the developer. This put a strong emphasis on the process of contracting for the

developer.

The objective liability for the legal disposal may be waived if the waste is delivered

to a public collection system. This will correspond to collection systems according

to the LAO section 9. In this case, the authorities take over the responsibility, upon

collection. In other cases, the authorities have established a system of licensed

transporter. Exclusive rights to transport for a limited number of licensees are

sometimes used to ensure high quality performance. When a developer uses a

licensed transporter, his liability may similarly be waived. In this case, the

transporter will typically loose his license immediately when illegal disposal is

observed.

The responsibility of the transporter is not abolished by the objective liability of the

developer. The responsibility of the transporter is typically similarly objective. In

addition to the legal penalty, vehicles used for illegal dumping will often be

confiscated, no matter if the dumping has been done with or without the consent of

the transporting company.



For small renovation works, the above system with waste management plans and

licensed transporters may seem too complicated. However, proper management of

such small construction sites is still very important, as they accounts for a large

number of the observed cases of illegal dumping. The reason for the illegal

dumping is often, that legal disposal facilities are too distant located for driving

with small amounts. To overcome this problem, many countries has established a

network of easy accessible recycling stations, where small vans for a nominal fee or

free of charge can deliver small amounts of construction waste. However it is

usually required that the waste is sorted by fraction into different containers at the

centre, depending of the type of subsequent treatment of the individual fractions.

Picture 2: Recycle station, Denmark

Driving with such small amounts of construction waste to a local recycling centre

does usually not require a license as a transporter. Only the transport of the waste

from the centre to the treatment plants still requires license.

Figure 2: The proper framework for the construction waste management (for

small generators)

Waste

Generator

Recycling

Plant

Licensed transporters

Pre-sorting site

Individual/un-Licensed transporters



4.2.3 Illegal dumping

The present regulation towards illegal dumping has to be simplified. This is to avoid

uncertainties among the state agencies on the distribution of tasks and to avoid any

confusion in the public on the entrusted authority. As presented in Table 4, a

number of agencies and provisions are currently involved. A framework for the

revisions has been proposed based on an assessment of the original intentions

behind the current provisions19

.

The proposed framework recommends that dumping outside the dedicated

treatment facilities should generally be prohibited. However, a proper system for

issuing permits for disposal of sorted construction waste under certain specified

circumstances should be developed. Among the circumstances where permits may

be issued are necessary land preparations for development projects.

The framework proposes that the overall authority for the waste management

system should be the local councils. The tasks include the operation of the public

waste collection and treatment system, the environmental performance at the

construction sites, the management of the deposit system for development projects,

the possible licensing system for transporters and the enforcement of the regulation

towards illegal transport and dumping.

The NREB is proposed as the authority issuing EIAs for development projects and

waste treatment facilities and permits for disposal outside dedicated areas. Permits

for minor temporary storages on public areas in relation to small private businesses

may, however, could still be delegated to the local authorities to facilitate daily

administration. The NREB may also be the authority for large cases of illegal

dumping, which may have significant detrimental impact on the environment

whereas the DOE is responsible for scheduled waste.

19

Jensen, Hanne and Larsen, Ib (2002). “Regulation of Illegal Dumping of Solid Waste to Land in

Sarawak”. Sarawak Government-DANCED 2002, p 37



4.3 Incentives

In many countries, recycling of construction waste is promoted by imposing a state

tax on construction waste being landfilled, and by exempting construction waste

delivered for recycling from the tax. However, this tool requires improved

enforcement, rendering the possibility of illegal dumping to avoid the tax

impossible.

4.4 Data

To design and operate a proper construction waste system, comprehensive mapping

and registration of waste amounts and flow is required. A database on construction

sites should be established, encompassing all building projects requiring EIA or

building permit. Entry of data to the database has accordingly to be possible from

the local council as well as from the NREB.

Construction sites should be obliged to report on the expected and generated waste

amounts and their disposal. This should be seen in relation to the discussion on

notification above. When these data are properly keyed into the database, an

overview will be easy accessible for planning and operation purposes and for

enforcement purposes.

The obligation to report on the waste amounts should be included in EIAs and

building permits.

4.4 Products from recycling facilities

To achieve the environmental benefits of the improvements, it is a pre-condition

that the recycled products from the recycling facility can be utilised. International

experiences show that a large amount of recycled construction products can be

utilised for simple low-quality purposes as ground stabilisation for development

projects, bottom layers for road construction etc. Use of the recycled products for

such purposes will increase the lifespan for available virgin resources in the area.

Use of recycled products for more advanced purposes will require elaboration of



precise specifications and certifications of the products. The liability of the

contractors often abstain them from using secondary materials, which properties

are not fully documented. Researches and tests are required to establish standards

and specifications for such high quality secondary materials. Internationally, the use

of secondary materials is sometimes promoted through legal requirements, which

obliges developers to use a certain amount of recycled material in development

projects.

5. Public Contracts

The public sector; is not only a legal body. It is also a major developer. This opens

the door to another major tool for improved construction waste management: the

state development contracts. Conditions on improved waste management may be

included as standard conditions for contractors and subcontractors in state

development contracts. Contract conditions on solid waste management may

concern most of the issues discussed above. In many countries, improving contracts

has proven to be a faster (and still efficient) tool than adoption of new legislation.

6. Awareness and Private Sector Initiatives

Regulation and establishing of the required facilities can only to a certain degree

lead to the desired improvements. If the efforts are not generally understood and

accepted within the construction sector, the obstacles may easily be too plentiful

and the achievements correspondingly limited. A large part of the improvements

has to be undertaken by the sector itself. It is therefore crucial, that a consensus

among the stakeholders on the need to improve the environmental performance is

achieved. Awareness rising therefore becomes a key element in the strategy. The

awareness raising activities has to be planned in close cooperation with the

construction sector.

The Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia (CIDB) has already taken

important steps in this direction. A milestone in this approach was the introduction



of the CIDB 3-stage EMS Certification System for Contractors20

. This type of

initiatives may lead to a steadily increased attention towards the environmental

performance in the sector. CIDB has similarly expressed its interest in supporting

the development of standard conditions on environmental performance to be used

in private contracts on development projects.

7. Conclusion

There are still far to go before a proper management system can be set up for

construction waste in Sarawak. However, an overview of the existing physical and

legal situation has been established. This overview constitutes an indispensable

basis for the continued work. Different options for improving the performance have

been compiled, as discussed above. Based on this work, the next step is to

formulate the actual framework for the future management of construction waste in

Sarawak. It is the hope that the future construction sector in Sarawak will become a

model for how environmental friendly development can be.

20

Lee Jin (2001). The CIDB’s 3-Stage Approach to EMS Certification for Contractors – A Preliminary

Draft. Paper presented at National Seminar on Environmental Management 2001 (EMS2001), 27-28 June

2001, Legend Hotel, Kuala Lumpur