Reduce waste at work
Construction and Demolition
What can you do
Materials easy to recycle
Ways to reduce waste
Is recycling more expensive?
Useful links
Most construction material that is thrown away can actually be reused, so it makes no sense to bury it in the ground.
The construction and demolition (C & D) industry creates the most waste per industry sector in Christchurch. Most of the waste goes to cleanfills, which are usually old gravel pits that are directly over the shallow groundwater aquifers. If not managed correctly the waste may cause groundwater pollution for many years into the future.
In June 2005 a two year National C & D Waste Reduction Project was completed. A series of guides were produced for C & D industry sectors such as architects and designers, builders and demolition firms and for C & D waste materials like plasterboard, concrete, wood. These guides are available from the Resource Efficiency in the Building and Related Industries (REBRI ) web site.
What you can do
Recycle as much of the materials as possible. Recycling can be done on site by:
- separating out recyclable materials into piles, skips or bins
- clearly label each bin so that everyone on site knows what to do
- arrange for recycling contractors to pick it up.
See the 'Sort it Out' Poster for an easy step by step system.
Alternatively talk to your regular waste contractor to see what they can recycle on your behalf. Remember to ask for a discount for reducing the waste that they take to cleanfill or landfill.
Materials easy to recycle:
- Cardboard (from packaging)
- All metal types (i.e. electrical cable, reinforcing bar, roofing iron, aluminium cans)
- Plastic wrap and cling film
- Window glass
- Plastic with numbers 1 or 2 in the recycling triangle
- Timber offcuts (non-treated).
Any salvageable building parts and decent sized offcuts can be taken by salvage companies for reuse. Healthy specimen trees can be transplanted when clearing site. Old or offcut pink batts can be taken to community groups for use in low-income homes. See the Waste Minimisation Directory for a full list of companies and organisations that accept materials from construction sites.
Ways to reduce waste
The best solution to the waste problem is to stop making it. Here are some tips:
- Refuse extra packaging from the suppliers, or get them to take packaging away with them
- Change products or product suppliers to those providing less packaging
- Reduce product damage by having weather-proof storage, and ordering 'just-in-time' delivery
- Ask the product suppliers to show you the most efficient installation methods for reducing offcuts and waste
- Ensure staff and subcontractors are trained in the most efficient installation methods
- Order pre-fabricated materials specific to your job
- Arrange centralised cutting areas to encourage the use of offcuts. Store useful offcuts until the end of the job, in case they can be used on site
- Have incentives for the staff and subcontractors to reduce waste production, perhaps as part of their contract.
For more tips, see the REBRI Guidelines
Is recycling more expensive?
When throwing materials into a skip you are paying contractors to haul and dispose them into a cleanfill or landfill. These costs are going to get increasingly more expensive. When you separate materials, they can have a value to another company or organisation, so some materials will be removed from your site for free, and others can be taken away for a smaller fee than the price to dump it. It doesn't take extra time on site to place materials in different bins rather than just one bin. Remember to keep them clearly labelled and let everyone know on site, what the bins are for.
Useful links
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