Managing construction and demolition waste can be a significantly costly issue for those within the industry. As per the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the waste from these projects contributes to 40% of landfill waste. Creating a plan to control the waste created properly is extremely important in removing any potential environmental impacts if the rubbish is treated haphazardly.
Large-scale construction projects may need help finding ways to store waste sustainably and may simply send it to landfills, overfilling already complete dumps.
Types of Construction Waste
There are many environmental, social and economic considerations to properly manage waste on a construction site and many different types. Construction waste can be broadly categorised into several types based on the materials generated during construction, renovation, demolition, or excavation activities. The most common types of construction waste include:
- Concrete: Broken or unused concrete, concrete blocks, and precast concrete components.
- Bricks: Broken or surplus bricks from construction or demolition activities.
- Wood: Scrap wood, lumber, pallets, and other wooden materials such as wood-based products, including plywood and particleboard.
- Metal: Scrap steel, reinforcement bars (rebar), aluminium scraps from windows, doors, and other metal components.
- Packaging Materials: Plastic packaging waste is generated while transporting and handling construction materials.
- Plastic Components: Discarded pipes, fittings, and other plastic construction materials.
- Asphalt Pavement: Old or damaged asphalt from roads, car parks, and other paved surfaces.
- Gypsum and Drywall
- Glass
- Hazardous Materials: This includes any harmful chemicals and substances used in construction and unused paints, solvents or finishing agents.
- Ceramics and Tiles
- Mixed Construction Debris: A combination of various construction waste types that may be difficult to separate.
- Asbestos
- Green Waste: Rocks, soil, and vegetation were excavated during construction.
Risks of Not Managing Waste Properly
Not managing construction waste properly can lead to various risks and consequences, affecting the environment, public health, safety, and the overall sustainability of construction activities. Inadequate waste disposal can result in environmental pollution, soil and water contamination, air pollution, and habitat disruption. Human health is jeopardised through exposure to hazardous materials, while safety hazards on construction sites can lead to accidents and injuries.
Legal consequences, including fines and penalties, may arise from non-compliance with waste disposal regulations. Negative public perception and damage to the reputation of construction companies create more consequences, impacting the industry’s overall sustainability. The wasteful use of resources, increased waste disposal costs, and a reduced focus on recycling contribute to resource depletion and hinder the transition to a circular economy. Proper construction waste management is essential to mitigate these risks, protect the environment, ensure public health and safety, comply with regulations, and promote the long-term viability of the construction industry.
Waste Management Fabric Dome Shelters
Another Tip for helping to control and manage your construction waste is to invest in a fabric shelter like those offered by Allshelter. These structures can assist in separating and sorting through waste products, creating a location that can harbour scrap materials that can be reused and recycled in future projects. Recycling products can help save costs in materials as less money will need to be spent outsourcing materials if you can reuse the ones you already have. Designated areas for sorting and separating recyclable materials from non-recyclables can be set up within a dome shelter. This helps streamline the recycling process, allowing for properly disposing of materials like metal, wood, concrete, and plastics.
Fabric shelters can also provide weather protection to safeguard construction waste from the elements. This is crucial for the materials damaged by rain or other external sources. For construction sites generating hazardous waste, dome shelters can also be adapted to store such materials securely. This ensures compliance with regulations regarding the handling and containment of dangerous substances. Providing a much safer option than just throwing these materials out is something that skips bins cannot take.
Dome shelters offer a versatile and adaptable construction site waste management solution by providing covered spaces for sorting, storing, and processing materials. Their flexibility and weather-resistant properties make them valuable assets in creating organised and efficient waste management systems on construction sites.
Few Tips for Waste Management
Firstly, what should you do with the waste generated at your site?
Disposing of it legally and responsibly is highly important, as well as recycling and reusing as many materials as possible. Bricks, clean soil, metal and timber can be easily reused and recycled rather than dumped in landfills.
Hiring skip bins can be an easy way to help control waste for small-size projects, separate bins used for different types of waste to ensure the cleanliness of the materials that can be recycled. They used a general waste bin to place the debris to be sorted through and reused. Clean soil, green waste, and concrete should have recycling bins. It is essential to remember that asbestos, chemicals, paint, oil, food waste, tyres and gas tank bottles cannot be thrown into these bins as they cannot be recycled.
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Brought to you by Atif Sharif.
Photo: iStock
