(Source: Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), 2019.)
Figure 4: Overall results of the Climate Change Performance Index 2019
level of ‘unknown’ problems due to dealing with
an existing building that will only become apparent
during construction work and sometimes needs
some extra back up planning. Furthermore,
refurbishment needs some extra planning due to
the generation of much higher value waste and
in larger volumes (furniture, architectural salvage,
etc.); a lot more mixed waste; complicated
materials that may have some contamination with
hazardous waste.
Refurbishment and Environmental Issues
In Malaysia, the open dumping of waste is seen
as the simplest and most efficient way of handling
refurbishment waste. However, it has many
adverse environmental, social and economic
impacts. Only some of the projects conduct scrap
sorting into recycle bins. The fee charged for waste
disposal or dumping on average is about RM450
(~USD125) per truckload. In the local construction
industry, the sub-contractor is responsible for
managing and transfering waste to a landfill.
Generally, the waste disposal sub-contractor
collects the waste bin at the project site and then
transports it either to an illegal dumpsite or landfill.
However, some reusable items such as plywood,
timber, and paper, with values of approximately at
RM500 - RM1000 (USD138-USD278) per ton can
be sold to a recycling company.
The environmental impact of these activities
needs urgent attention, however for action to be
taken, as a minmum there is a need to quantify
and evaluate the waste generated from these
construction activities. Studies conducted
by Masudi et al., (2011) in quantification and
assessment of the waste during the valuation of
a new construction building in the Klang Valley,
showed that the waste index (debris) generated
from new construction projects is in the range of
0.03-0.5(m 3 /m 2 ). This is attributed to many factors
such as type of building, size of gross floor area,
type of construction methods used and waste
management by contractors. Meanwhile, other
than the waste issues, building construction has
a significant impact on the environment, especially
in producing a large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Referring to the Climate Change Performance Index
(CCPI), 2019, Malaysia is grouped in the red colour
category and classified as “very poor condition”.
It is among the lowest countries in controlling CO 2
emission with ranking 51 out of 60 countries as
shown in Figure 4.
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