Improving waste management in construction projects: an Australian study

Construction waste generation has been identified as one of the major issues in the construction industry due to its direct impacts on the environment as well as the efficiency of the construction industry. As the industry cannot continue to practice if the environmental resources on which it depends are depleted, the significance of waste management needs to be understood in order to encourage stakeholders to achieve related goals. Therefore, this research aims to determine effective approaches to eliminate and/or minimise waste generation in construction projects. Mixed methods were adopted by combining qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Interviews and a questionnaire survey were conducted as the primary data collection methods. The findings reveal twenty six critical solutions for waste management. Five factors of solutions for waste management were extracted from the exploratory factor analysis. These factors were: team building and supervision; strategic guidelines in waste management; proper design and documentation; innovation in waste management decisions; and lifecycle management. The evidence from this study suggests that both technologies and attitudinal approaches require improvement to eliminate/minimise waste generation in construction projects. Similarly, attention should be paid to being mindful of the environmental effects of waste generation and avoiding waste generation as early as possible in construction projects.

Attitudinal and behavioural approaches to improving waste management on construction projects in Australia: Benefits and limitations

This research aims to understand the attitudes and behaviours of stakeholders towards waste management and consequently identify ways of improving waste management practices in construction projects. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. The findings reveal that most of the decisions in construction projects are based on their financial returns unless there is a special requirement to comply with Green Star or any other sustainable building rating system. Even though there is a trend towards environment-friendly construction, contractors are favourable towards methods involving financial incentives. Results also indicate that private developers are more price-driven compared with government clients. Findings reveal the necessity of enforcing legislation to improve waste management practices until such practices become culturally embedded in organizations across the supply chain. Similarly, end users' motivation towards waste management was also identified as a key to encouraging stakeholders of construction projects and improving their attitudes and behaviours towards waste management practices.

The failures of neo-liberal state building in Iraq: assessing Australia's post-conflict reconstruction and development Initiatives

This article examines Australia's post-conflict reconstruction and development initiatives in Iraq following the intervention of 2003. Overall, it finds that Australia privileged the neo-liberal model of post-conflict state building by investing in projects that would enhance the capacity of the new Iraqi state, its key institutions and the private sector towards the imposition of a liberal democracy and a free-market economy. To demonstrate, this article documents the failures of the Australian government's stated aims to "support agriculture" and "support vulnerable populations" via interviews conducted in Iraq with rural farmers and tribal members and those working in, or the beneficiaries of, Iraq's disability sector. It concludes by noting that such failures are not only indicative of the inadequacy of the neo-liberal state building model, but also that these failures point the way forward for future post-conflict reconstruction and development projects which ought to be premised on a genuine and sustained commitment to addressing the needs of those made most vulnerable by war and regime change.