Survey on construction and demolition waste management in Tabriz city and presenting environmental and healthy methods for disposal of them

Abstract

The construction and demolition (C&D) waste management is among of the fastest-growing environmental and healthy concerns in Iran. Meantime among of the basic prerequisites for effective performance of every waste management program are the accessibility of adequate and precise data on characteristics and its current management condition. Therefore, estimating the amount of C&D waste in Tabriz metropolitan city (Iran) was one of the key objectives of the present work. Another objectives of this study were to assess C&D waste handling and their final disposal and site selection for landfilling via GIS. This study also aimed to evaluate the existing policies on C&D waste management. Accordingly, the C&D waste generation rate was estimated according to the waste weight per area of construction and demolition in Tabriz. Then, the C&D waste management condition was assessed using a checklist, visiting the disposal site, intervening authorities, and analyzing scientific databases. According to the results, the amount of C&D waste generation rate in the city of Tabriz was estimated to be in the range of 167,034 to 848,480 ton/year or 0.114 to 0.534 ton/year per capita and 2.267 ton/m2 of demolition. In this area, like most other parts in the country, no scientific and systematic program was observed for source reduction (reduce, reuse, and recycle of the C&W waste). Due to the non-availability of any standard disposal site, all the C&D waste (except for some recycled items such as metals) was being deposed at the nearest distance from the city in public lands, waterways, valleys, roadsides, even in pastures and conservation areas, and sometimes inside the city or nearby villages. Therefore, there is a great urgent need for applying specific practical policies, rules, and regulations for source reduction (reduce, reuse, and recycle (3Rs) of C&D waste. Moreover, a central disposal site should be allocated to dispose the remaining C&D waste according to the environmental and health considerations. The result of the sit selection shows that the area of 160 hectares in the southern city of Tabriz is the proper for landfill site. Finally, some practical recommendations about C&D waste management had been presented to improve the current situation