Transforming debris management: considering new essentials

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review what is known about debris management and acknowledge that the effective removal of debris has positive impacts on communities affected by disaster. Four new concerns are introduced that should be considered during the debris management process. These include the recognition of additional debris types as well as the importance of evidence in crime scene investigations.Design/methodology/approachA literature review on debris management is presented in this paper. It illustrates the relevance, amount, and types of debris in disasters as well as the need for advanced planning. Four new essentials are then discussed.FindingsThose involved in debris management should consider how they will deal with excessive donations, human remains, animal carcasses and evidence collection.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this research could be enhanced with practitioner interviews, the literature review is fairly thorough.Practical implicationsLessons in this paper will help to bring about more effective and efficient debris management operations.Originality/valueThis research reviews the current state of knowledge and adds to it.

Disaster waste management: A review article

“…In addition to disaster generated waste, authors have identified other waste streams that can be indirectly generated post-event, including: excessive unwanted donations (Ekici et al, 2009), large amounts of health care wastes (Petersen, 2004), rotten food from power outages (Luther, 2008) and emergency relief food packaging (Solis et al, 1995).…”

“…The US Army Corps of Engineers (Channell et al, 2009) and Ekici et al (2009) give broader reviews, but are still limited to the US context and to technical aspects of debris management. Karunasena (2009) proposes to review disaster waste management in developing countries with an emphasis on the Sri Lankan context.…”

“…In past disasters this phase has lasted up to 5 years (New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina) (Luther, 2008). The recovery phase can be affected by a number of factors outside the control of waste managers including police/coroner investigations which can limit site access for public and waste contractors (Ekici et al, 2009) and slow resident return (New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina) (Cook, 2009). …”

A Decision-support Tool for Post-disaster Debris Operations

“…A comprehensive review article by Brown et al [5] presents previous experiences and guidelines on planning, waste composition and treatment, social aspects, and environmental consequences. Other important qualitative studies summarizing several aspects of disaster debris management include Reinhart and McCreanor [20], McEntire [18], and Ekici et al [8]. Despite the abundance of guidelines, there is lack of quantitative guidance on how to carry out the debris removal activities, which we aim to address in this paper.…”

Capacity building for post disaster construction and demolition waste management

“…Brown et al (2011a) revealed a number of gaps in existing legislation, organisational structures and funding mechanisms related to disaster waste management. Thus, emerges the importance of designing early stage strategies for disaster waste management with predefined disaster waste management procedures, adequate capacities of local areas, identified recyclable material and disposing sites for sustainable disaster waste management (Baycan and Petersen, 2002;Baycan, 2004;Basnayake et al, 2005; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 2006; Ekici et al, 2009;Moe, 2010;Brown et al, 2011a).Further, it has been emphasised that these strategies need to be anchored to strategic-level disaster waste management policies with flexibility for further development to ensure continuity and sustainability (Baycan and Petersen, 2002; Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit (JEU), 2010). In this context, this paper aims to present a theoretical framework for capacity building in post disaster C&D waste management to attain sustainable post disaster C&D waste management for future resilience.…”