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The capacity of landfills will reach saturation in the 2020s. There are more than 50,000 buildings in Hong Kong over 30 years old and which may require extensive refurbishment under the Mandatory Building Scheme. Additionally, most new owners/tenants tend to renovate their premises before moving in. Hence, there is an urgent need in Hong Kong, to explore strategies and measures to enable the development of effective refurbishment and renovation (R&R) waste management for such projects. The objectives of this paper are to investigate the process of R&R for identifying the perceived barriers and thereby the strategies for minimisation and management of R&R waste in Hong Kong.

Desktop study, semi-structured interviews, site observations and document reviews were used as the data collection methods to achieve the objectives of this research. Considering the nature and characteristics of the industry structure, the snowball sampling process was deployed for data collection. Thematic analysis and content analysis were used for data analysis. Waste minimisation and management strategies for R&R projects were then discussed and developed by the research team and a focus group meeting was held to validate the research findings. Six strategies were then proposed to the government.

R&R projects contribute 10–20% of the construction and demolition waste. The barriers to recycling of R&R waste can be grouped into six major categories: (1) lack of sorting and storage spaces, (2) high cost, (3) insufficient government supporting policy, (4) complicated recycling processes, (5) immature recycling market and (6) insufficient public education. Also, six strategies are proposed in this study, which include (1) pre-refurbishment audit, (2) development of recycling market, (3) sea reclamation, (4) incineration, (5) government support and (6) education and research.

The strategies and measures proposed in this research could most adequately serve as reference for the government officials, building professionals and academic researchers. Such knowledge would make possible the development of effective strategies and measures for minimising and managing R&R waste.

The purpose of this study is to determine the possibilities to use drill cuttings in soil formation processes on sandy substrates. The ecological and toxicological assessment of drill cuttings of various genesis and mixtures based on them is applied for the purpose.

Acute toxicity of mixtures consisting of various drill cuttings, sand and peat was estimated using soft wheat seeds (Triticum aestivum) using the eluate method. Subacute toxicity experiments were carried out using creeping trefoil (white clover) seeds (Trifolium repens), rye seeds (Secale cereale), and garden radish seeds (Raphanus sativus L.). Drill cuttings of the West Siberian oil-and-gas basin generated as a result of drilling on clay-polymer drilling fluids can be used as a component of soil-like mixtures in the reclamation of sand fills. Patterns of the selective stimulation of seed growth by components of drilling fluids (xanthate and bentonite) were revealed.

It was found that the addition of bentonite and xanthan (0.05% by weight of the cuttings each) reduces the suppression of seed growth occasioned salt content by 21.1% and 24.0%, respectively.

Soil degradation and desertification is a serious and widespread problem. The restoration of the fertile layer can be launched by application of the artificial soil-like mixtures based on drill cuttings of a certain origin to the disturbed lands.

Financial assurance rules, also known as financial responsibility or bonding requirements, foster cost internalization by requiring potential polluters to demonstrate the financial resources necessary to compensate for environmental damage that may arise in the future. Accordingly, assurance is an important complement to liability rules, restoration obligations, and other regulatory compliance requirements. The paper reviews the need for assurance, given the prevalence of abandoned environmental obligations, and assesses the implementation of assurance rules in the United States. From the standpoint of both legal effectiveness and economic efficiency, assurance rules can be improved. On the whole, however, cost recovery, deterrence, and enforcement are significantly improved by the presence of existing assurance regulations.

A systems perspective of waste management allows an integrated approach not only to the five basic functional elements of waste management itself (generation, reduction, collection, recycling, disposal), but to the problems arising at the interfaces with the management of energy, nature conservation, environmental protection, economic factors like unemployment and productivity, etc. This monograph separately describes present practices and the problems to be solved in each of the functional areas of waste management and at the important interfaces. Strategies for more efficient control are then proposed from a systems perspective. Systematic and objective means of solving problems become possible leading to optimal management and a positive contribution to economic development, not least through resource conservation. India is the particular context within which waste generation and management are discussed. In considering waste disposal techniques, special attention is given to sewage and radioactive wastes.

In England and Wales, the construction industry produces 53.5 Mt of construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) annually, of which 51 percent goes to landfill, 40 percent is used for land reclamation and only 9 percent is crushed for future use or directly recovered. C&D waste may be contaminated, either through spillage from industrial processes or contact with contaminated land. There are no guidelines on how to classify C&D waste as contaminated or on risk management for contaminated C&D waste. Research at the UK Building Research Establishment and the University of Manchester has shown that new taxes are making disposal of C&D waste to landfill uneconomic, that low grade “land‐modelling” recycling is increasing, and that disposal on‐site is preferred. Sampling spatially of structures before demolition and temporally of processed C&D waste emerging from crushers is enabling sources of contamination and exceedance of guideline values to be compared with natural background levels. Improved sampling procedures and recommendations for risk assessment for the re‐use of C&D waste are being prepared.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.