Abstract:
Construction is a vital connection to the infrastructure and growth of industry in developing
countries. Ethiopia is among the fast growing developing nations where construction and demolition
activities are undertaking at every corner of the country. Construction of roads, buildings, bridges
and other constructed facilities play an important role in shaping society’s future. However, the
construction industry does not firmly take some common considerations such as design, finance,
environment, energy, and other elements. Consequently, the construction industry produces a huge
amount of waste which is environmentally unfriendly, and costly to project budgets. In some areas
all or part of construction and demolition (C&D) waste is unlawfully deposited on land, or in
natural drainage including water, contrary to regulations to protect human health, commerce and
the environment. So the management of construction waste plays an important role in the cost of
project and appropriate use of the construction waste is a solution to the fast degradation of virgin
raw materials in the construction industry. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of the
construction industry can be reduced through sustainable waste management (SWM).As a
developing country, Ethiopia is behind the developed countries in construction waste management.
Thus the paper is aimed at review of literatures and to assess the factors that contribute to waste in
construction; find out how much construction waste is costing project budgets; assess the practice of
construction waste management; gain an understanding of C&D waste management planning
concepts, frameworks, strategies, and components that are current and emerging in the field;
besides the roles of different stakeholders such as owners, contractors and construction management
community will also be investigated in terms of their responsibility for construction waste
management. The study revealed that in Ethiopia, construction materials waste exists at high rates
and its management is at an infant stage and construction companies do not adhere to international
best practices. The study also recommends that Managing Waste need a serious attention from all
the stakeholders involved throughout the construction process from planning to finishing stage of the
works.
