Attitudes Towards Waste Minimisation Amongst Labour Only Sub- Contractors

Waste generation by the construction industry is a significant issue for the industry and for society generally. The paper examines previous studies of attitudes to waste management within the industry and by means of a small questionnaire study sets out to examine: the extent of labour only sub-contractors’ awareness and understanding of waste as an issue, their perceptions of the causes of waste and their attitudes towards the allocation of financial responsibility for waste minimisation. The survey shows that the results of previous studies can be extended to labour only sub-contractors and it identifies a willingness, beyond what might have been anticipated for this group, to accept some of the costs of waste reduction. Introduction Waste generation by the UK construction industry is significant in terms of its direct cost to the industry itself and its relative contribution to the overall national waste burden. McGarth and Anderson (2000) reported that wastage rates within the industry may be as high as 10 – 15%. Based on a commissioned survey, the Environment Agency (2001) estimated that construction and demolition waste accounted for 72. 5