The construction industry is one of the world’s highest waste producers, with more than 569 tons of construction waste dumped into US landfills yearly. While building a sustainable and environmentally friendly home using sustainable materials is a great choice, we should look at the whole picture and find ways to minimise on-site waste during construction. So, here’s how housebuilders should avoid waste.
- Recruiting a Quantity Surveyor
When working with a construction project, a quantity surveyor will draw up detailed lists of materials for construction. The list will be sent to Building Control for approval to determine the overall project cost. At this point, the quantity surveyor will ensure the materials used are sustainable, which is one way to avoid excess waste in construction.
A quantity surveyor has an essential role in the construction of new buildings and in minimising costs. Some quantity surveyors have experience in large-scale construction projects, while others specialise in smaller-scale projects or individual house buildings. Regardless, they all play an essential role in promoting sustainability in construction, which is the first step to avoiding excess waste. When recruiting a quantity surveyor, get in touch with expert suppliers of quantity surveyors in construction.
Since quantity surveyors are experts in the construction industry, they are aware of the practices they need to follow to promote sustainability. Although these ideals require effort and thought, they can help improve sustainability in construction, and everyone has to stick to them to lessen waste.
- Reusing Materials
Placing recycling bins on job sites is one of the most effective ways to avoid excess waste in construction. Sorting waste materials and putting the recyclables in the recycling bin can help minimise the waste that goes into the dumpster and ultimately reduce waste. The materials that should go into the recycling bin are asphalt, concrete, bricks, carpeting, drywall, gravel, paper, metal, and more.
Upcycling is another effective way to reduce construction waste. It’s a process of creatively reusing existing materials to create something new. Such a technique will preserve some of the characteristics of the original materials before transforming them into a new object. Unlike recycling, upcycling will not break down the product to its raw materials for repurposing. Instead, it will convert the existing materials into something useful, ideally improving their appearance and purpose during the process.
When it comes to construction, upcycling is helpful in restoring existing buildings that could otherwise be put to demolition. If the building foundation and other elements are intact, they can be upcycled.
- Material Delivery Strategy
Another way house builders can avoid waste is to efficiently plan material deliveries to keep materials from getting wet and damaged, which eventually go to waste. Implementing “just-in-time” delivery strategies can effectively reduce waste due to improper storage and weather damage.
Upon delivery, construction materials should be kept in a way that they align with project construction stages, which helps to avoid materials getting stored on-site longer than necessary and thus, minimise damage risk. Managers should carefully plan the storage and transport of materials within the construction site. Improper planning could lead to unnecessary waste of construction materials, not to mention an increased risk of pollution. For instance, leaving materials uncovered could lead to spoilage, which needs to be scrapped when it rains. Otherwise, the site could get muddy.
Proper storage of building materials is essential to preserve their quality and minimise waste. It’s also important to avoid buying more materials than what’s necessary. Excess materials are part of the reason why landfill has reached their capacity. While it’s logical to store all leftover building materials together, it’s important to remember that different materials require a specific storage method to maximise their shelf-life.
- Waste Reduction Training
It’s essential to let workers undergo Waste Reduction Training. The training course offers the knowledge required to handle construction waste materials. Construction and Demolition materials are some of the major components in the local solid waste stream. Therefore, construction workers should know the proper strategies for waste disposal.
Landfills are quickly reaching their capacity and are a threat to health and safety. Despite the many initiatives to reduce and recycle waste materials from construction, a big percentage of these materials are still filling up landfills. In addition, mismanaged construction wastes are a hazard to the environment. Thus, understanding how to manage construction wastes through training is increasingly essential.
Upon completion of the waste reduction training, participants will learn how to identify environmental and health impacts of construction wastes and determine the factors affecting the construction waste composition. Furthermore, training participants will also learn how to identify the types of markets used for recycling construction and demolition wastes.
- Finding the Right Waste Company
Look for a reliable waste company to help minimise waste in construction. Doing away with construction waste is not an easy task. Materials like drywall, steel, and broken concrete are not easy to discard. Aside from causing harm to the environment, you could be in trouble with the authorities if you will not dispose of these materials properly. Thus, it is best to leave these tasks to the experts.
You need to find the right skip company that can handle the recycling of waste materials. The skip company will handle the collection, treatment, and proper disposal of construction and demolition wastes. Hiring a waste company comes with many benefits. Waste removal can be time-consuming. Most seasoned providers of skips have adequate equipment to clean up the construction site faster, usually in a single day. Since they can clean up the area quickly, they can be helpful when you need to host a party to celebrate the construction of the new building.
There are safety risks involved in handling construction waste materials, such as ceramic, iron, glass, broken concrete, wood, etc. Waste removal companies have the right equipment to safely handle different kinds of waste materials without putting anyone’s health in jeopardy. Unless you have the knowledge and expertise in handling waste materials, do not ever do it yourself. Better leave it to the experts.