Abstract
With the spread of the concept of sustainable development, people have gained awareness about the problem of massive illegal dumping of construction waste. In this research, a questionnaire survey was carried out in the USA and China. The results indicated the following. (1) Workers in both the countries had positive minimisation attitudes, and the attitude of Chinese construction workers was not significantly different from that of American construction workers. Furthermore, their average values were 3.9 and 4.07, respectively. (2) Business owners had a poor understanding of the obligations that should be fulfilled by contractors and construction workers, which greatly reduced (a) construction workers’ and contractors’ motivation to implement waste minimisation management and (b) the benefit-driven effect. (3) In terms of perceived behavioural control, Chinese construction workers had poorer minimisation technologies and knowledge than American construction workers, and it was very difficult for them to implement construction waste minimisation. The research conclusions and relevant suggestions may be used to improve the construction waste minimisation behaviour and awareness of Chinese people and promote China’s construction waste minimisation management.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable suggestions of the editor and three anonymous reviewers.
Funding
The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71501052) and Foundation of Department of Education of Guangdong Province (2014WQNCX073).
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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
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Liu, J., Gong, E., Wang, D. et al. Attitudes and behaviour towards construction waste minimisation: a comparative analysis between China and the USA. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 13681–13690 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2247-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2247-0