Construction and demolition waste accounts for half of New Zealand’s total landfill intake. New Zealand’s waste hierarchy guides sustainable waste management, aiming to keep materials in use for as long as possible and minimise what goes to landfill. By maximising the reuse, recycling, and resale of building materials, this statistic can be improved.
Pioneering a solution is Waste Less, New Zealand’s first all-in-one construction and demolition waste collection service, waste processing centre, and salvaged materials yard. Taking this a step further, they also provide waste data tracking and tailored waste separation plans specifically designed for construction and deconstruction sites. Highlighting their dedication to the mission, Waste Less’ office cabins are made from salvaged floor structures and walls, which were directly lifted off deconstruction sites by a HIAB.
Their focus is the first three stages of the waste hierarchy: reduce and prevent, reuse and repurpose, and recycle and compost. The last two stages in the hierarchy are recovering energy or raw materials and residual disposal, which are the last-resort processes. Based on the cradle-to-grave principle, the national Waste Strategy promotes a circular economy to reduce environmental harm and the extraction of resources.
Materials from projects are meticulously dismantled —not demolished —with hand tools by their deconstruction partner, Levela Deconstruction. All recoverable timber is de-nailed, cleaned, and protected before being sold by the metre via TradeMe and directly to community recycling centres and other retailers of second-hand building materials.
The same approach applies to other materials: windows, doors, roofing, floorboards, trusses, baths, sinks, kitchens, decking, balustrades, appliances, and more. Salvaged native woods are reprocessed into products like TGV cladding and floorboards. Sustainability and giving back go hand in hand: items are regularly donated to community projects and charities as well.
Material that cannot be reused goes to large hook-lift skip bins in the yard. This includes scrap metal, timber recycling (which is sent to Green Gorilla for biofuel production), PVC/HDPE, and polystyrene. Concrete and bricks/blocks are transported directly from the site to clean-fill stations. Any residual waste on site that cannot be reused or recycled is likely taken directly to transfer stations.
The Waste Less yard services all waste generated by its parent company, Levela Deconstruction, taking on not only demolition and deconstruction waste but also new build construction waste. They specialise in pre-demolition salvage and residential construction, but are also equipped to perform commercial strip-outs, pre-transport preparation, and small-dwelling and asbestos removals. With the exception of concrete, at least 80% of the materials from each project they work on are reused, recycled, and repurposed.
Other contractors can either drop off their materials at the Waste Less yard, or a dedicated hook-lift bin truck can be arranged to collect waste from their sites on their behalf. This then extends to the Waste Less team visiting the site for half a day to implement waste separation practices, making the entire process more efficient for everyone.
The future looks bright for Levela and Waste Less. Recently named among the Sustainable Business Network’s Next List 2025, Waste Less is developing shredding technology to recycle all forms of plasterboard waste, turning cleaned gypsum and paper pulp into reusable materials for manufacturing and agriculture. By targeting used plasterboard rather than just off-cuts, the company aims to create closed-loop systems that set a new standard for circularity in New Zealand’s construction sector.
Waste Less has just moved into a new 900m2 yard at 26 Bancroft Crescent, Glendene. Visit https://leveladeconstruction.co.nz/ for more information.
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