At Earth Wise Skips, we’re very concerned about how much demolition and construction waste goes to landfill unnecessarily and are on a mission to change that.
The construction industry is one of the world’s heaviest users of solid waste. Every stage of the building process has an environmental impact, and uses a lot of minerals and raw materials. Most construction and demolition waste is non-biodegradable – it doesn’t break down and it lasts a long time. So construction sites must have plans to reduce the amount of waste it produces and properly dispose of the material it does produce.
How much construction waste is recycled?
Around 40% of Australia’s waste comes from construction and demolition – that’s about 200 tonnes of waste each year.
An astounding 80% of this can be reused or recycled. This includes concrete, asphalt, brick and tile, fibre cement, plasterboard, timber, non-packaging glass and plastic, and scrap metal.
Currently, only about half of the waste that construction produces is getting recycled. In Queensland, things are moving in the right direction. In 2019, the Queensland Government reported that 58% of the state’s 5.2 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste was recovered (up from 50.8% in 2017–18).
But we can still do better.
How to reduce construction waste:
1. Plan for waste
The key to creating a sustainable construction site is creating a waste management plan up front – planning with the end in mind. You can determine how to reduce the amount of waste your site will produce.
Then you can look at how to reuse what you do produce and how to recycle what you can’t reuse.
2. Reuse building materials
So much material is produced or used on a site that can be reused in that or other projects, or sold or given away.
For example, windows and doors might be in great condition and able to be used elsewhere. Vanity basins, baths, tap fixtures and other items could be refitted somewhere else.
Timber, wood and metal could also be reused where possible.
Trees and shrubs could be pulled up carefully and replanted elsewhere, or sold or given away, rather than being bulldozed and thrown in a green waste bin.
One key is to deconstruct rather than demolish where possible. And group the materials on site to make them easier to reuse and recycle, rather than throwing them in one pile together. (For example, put bricks into one group, plasterboard in another group, etc.)
How to recycle building material to avoid construction waste?
Although avoid, reduce and reuse are essential part of waste reduction, recycling is also a major part of a construction project’s waste management plan.
Construction and demolition waste recycling involves recovering useful waste material for recycling and reuse. Recycling just 1 tonne of aluminium saves 4 tonnes of bauxite and 700 kilograms of petroleum. It also reduces emissions and the amount of waste going to landfill.
At Earth Wise Skips on the Sunshine Coast, we offer bins for different waste types: clean soil; green waste; dirty fill; brick, concrete and masonry; and general construction waste. Keeping these materials separate helps us recycle them.
When we collect your skip bin, the waste goes to a sorting facility where it’s sorted mechanically and physically.
Some material can be reused as road base, drainage, and turf underlay. Other material, like recycled ferrous and non-ferrous metals, cardboard, paper and plastic, can be used to manufacture new products.
Want to know more?
Over the last few years, Australia’s construction industry has improved its waste management and recycling of building materials. But there is still more we can do.
If you have questions about how to create a more sustainable construction site, contact our friendly team today to chat.