Collecting and separating materials on site is a great way to reduce waste. So, one of the best ways to ensure your Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP) succeeds, and it’s easier for your team to do the right thing, is to have a well thought out, easy-to-use waste and recycling system. What do we mean by that? It’s just about three things – what bins you need, when you need them, and what happens when they’re full.
Once you’ve done your WMMP, you should know what waste streams you’ll have, the rough quantities, and when during the build you’ll have those volumes of waste. Knowing all that, you should be able to work out what bins you need.
• Cardboard – use a cage from a recycling operator or flatten and pile on a pallet for collection. Try to keep it dry.
• Concrete, brick – use a half skip as a full skip becomes too heavy. For large volumes, or on-site processing, store in piles.
• Metal – depending on the recycling operator and the volume, you could pile it or load into a skip or trailer. Ensure it’s not comminated by other materials like plastic or concrete.
• Plasterboard – stack reusable pieces on a pallet, or place in a skip or bin with a lid to prevent it getting wet and gypsum dust escaping.
• Hard plastic – use a bin with a lid to keep it blowing away.
• Soft plastic (wrap and film) – use a trailer or front-loading bin with a lid to stop it blowing away.
• Polystyrene – use large plastic bags which can be securely tied so it doesn’t blow around the site.
• Soil – stockpile on site or load direct onto a truck for removal.
• Treated timber – keep separate from untreated timber for reused as possible. Keep unusable pieces with residual waste for appropriate disposal.
• Untreated timber – keep separate for treated timber for reuse as possible. For recycling ensure it’s not contaminated with stuff like steel, dirt and soil.
• Vegetation – stockpile or compost on site or remove to a composter.
• Residual waste – once you have sorted and reused or recycled everything you can, ensure the residual waste is responsibly disposed of.
• Do you need to allow space for loaders, trucks etc to remove the material? Will a ute or trailer do the job? Do bins need pockets or handles so your waste provider truck can lift them?
• Could you reuse containers you already have on site?
• Could you build bins from scrap materials you already have on site?
• Best practice is to locate bins near the work area – consider how they’ll be moved around the site.
• Use clear and standard signs with pictures. There is a great set of signs on the BRANZ site in multiple languages. Just print them out or make your own.
You may have a large number of waste streams, but that doesn’t mean you’ll need all the bins at the same time. For example, you might only need clean-fill bins during the earthworks part of the build, and a bin to collect plasterboard offcuts during lining.
Planning will mean you can have the right bins at the right time, taking up less space on site.
For some people, sorting their materials on site, then doing a weekly trip to the local diversion facilities with a trailer or ute is enough.
For larger projects, or where transportation and handling is more difficult, we suggest you partner with your local waste management or resource and recovery specialists.
Working with a waste provider to reduce your waste to landfill requires a collaborative approach. Your conversation should focus on waste reduction, resource recovery, and sustainable practices (which are not always focused on price).
There are plenty of great businesses that can help with collection, sorting, transportation, and diversion of a range of materials. The Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ) has more information, or talk to your local council about who they recommend.
Your waste provider is just as important as the tradies you have on site, so make sure you discuss:
• What services they offer, e.g. separated material bins and collection, organic waste processing.
• Reporting on waste – so you can track how well you’re doing.
• Targets for diversion in your WMMP – these should consider advice around local recycling or reuse initiatives.
Not all your bins have to be the same size, or even stored in the same place. Try to be flexible in how you plan your recycling and waste system.
For example, it makes sense to have your scrap timber bin near where the cutting is happening. The less interruption waste sorting creates in you team’s workflow, the more likely they’ll do it.
An advantage to using smaller bins is increased flexibility compared to a skip. You can also more easily swap bins as needed.
Depending on the size of your site, you could have smaller bins which are regularly emptied, you can separate and take materials to your local reuse/recovery centre yourself, or use larger bins that are collected less frequently.
Last, but not least, remember to use signage to make it clear what goes in each bin.
C&D waste processing varies hugely across the motu – not every region collects or processes the same sorted materials.
Talk to your waste provider or local council to make sure you are sorting and collecting the materials which can be processed in your area.
This content is brought to you by 3R Group, in partnership with Mitre 10 Sustainability on Site and BRANZ. For more information on how to be more sustainable on your building sites, head to www.mitre10.co.nz/trade/sustainability & https://www.branz.co.nz/reducing-building-material-waste
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