Wastes include construction wastes, which is usually from destruction events, demolition, as well as the remaining parts of the construction buildings. Construction waste is a major threat to human health and the environment, which needs to be adequately controlled.
Sadly, construction wastes often land in landfills, despite the fact that it is best for reuse or recycling. Examples of this waste category include tiles, drywall, bricks, plastics, timber, asphalt, and concrete. A lot of them are usually bulky, non-biodegradable, and heavy.
Hence, they require handling with care. The recycling of construction waste is the procedure involved in getting useful waste items for recycling and reuse.
Note that properly recycling construction waste will help reduce your construction cost. It will also help you to conserve the environment. Meanwhile, you must be interested in preserving the environment, which is the reason we have shared the following tips on how to recycle construction waste.
5 Useful Tips on How to Recycle Construction Waste
Build by Using Standard Dimensions
One of the tips on how to recycle construction waste is to use standard dimensions while building. This is due to the fact that dimensional planning helps to reduce the number of materials you need.
If you comply with standard dimensions rather than creating unique ones, you will not need to worry about the leftovers from the cutting required to adapt materials to particular dimensions.
Sticking with standard dimensions will save you time, money, and effort. For instance, if you are aware that residential ceilings have a standard height of about 3,200- 3,600 mm, it will be easier to determine the quantity of material you will need to have that space.
Therefore, using standard building dimensions is an awesome way to reduce construction waste. After all, the less material you need to cut off, the less waste will be generated.
Use Materials Again for New Projects
Using materials again for new projects is an incredible way to recycle construction waste. Reusing mainly refers to repurposing materials that have formerly been a part of another project, while maintaining their authentic form.
Those materials may be resized, altered, or refinished, but they can not be reprocessed. The less the materials are changed, the higher their economic and environmental worth.
Whole projects can be repurposed, like walls, window frames, doors, and whole structures. In addition, materials that can be used again include concrete, steel sections, brick, untreated timber, and aluminum. For example, untreated timber can be reused as firewood, while destroyed concrete can be reused as clusters for fresh concrete.
Moreover, it is worthy of note that reusing building materials can greatly minimize the construction industry’s carbon emissions. Admittedly, not everything can be reused, but you can still discover incredible privileges to applying formerly used materials to your upcoming projects.
Educate Your Workers
Concerning the management of construction waste, it is vital to ensure all your workers are aware of the possibilities of recycling. If the procedures for waste segregation are correctly carried out at the construction site, you will be able to save so much time and money. This is because there will not be a severe need to sort later.
Hence, you should educate your workers on what is regarded as trash, what is reusable or recyclable, as well as how to get value in waste. One of the ways to do that is to motivate them to receive certificates in sustainable deconstruction methods. There are distinct training programs and institutions that can assist you with this.
Deconstruction is an alternative to destruction which is environmentally friendly. Moreover, thoroughly trained deconstruction crews can salvage so many materials, thereby rescuing them from getting disposed of at landfills.
After you provide your workers with adequate education on proper waste management, you can motivate them to comply with the correct steps by verbally praising them or adding bonuses to their salaries, which is a better way to encourage them.
Develop a Recycling Plan
Planning with a recycling and waste disposal company is a sure way to control the waste generated on-site. If your construction team is aware of your plan, they will be able to act accordingly in order to make sure that waste is well sorted out, disposed of, and prepared for transportation.
The major decision you will need to make is if you would rather recycle off-site or on-site. If you choose to sort on-site, it will involve you sorting your materials into different bins. Those bins are then taken to the necessary facilities that specialize in that specific type of material.
On the other hand, if you choose off-site sorting, you will need to put all your waste into one mixed recycling load, which the facility will then help you sort out.
It is essential to state that off-site recycling saves time. This is because you will only be required to drop all recyclable materials into one container. On the flip side, on-site sorting is the perfect way to guarantee the possibility of recycling as much construction waste as you have. Therefore, on-site sorting is recommended if you have high recycling goals.
It is especially crucial to control the recycling of two types of materials which are those that create the highest amount of waste as well as those which are not found in big quantities but are greatly sought after, like metals and bricks.
Summarily, having a recycling plan before you commence any construction work will ensure you do not have a worksite full of waste.
Donation to Local Charities
Recycling businesses and local charities are generally willing to accept and even eliminate items they wish to resell or utilize for an upcoming project. For example, whether you are destroying or deconstructing a property, you could search for ways to donate fixtures, old furniture, or other unneeded materials.
You can donate all those items to notable charity organizations to resell or repurpose them. The moment they receive those materials, they could even use them to build high-quality and energy-efficient homes at lower costs.
Construction Waste Recycling
As established above, recycling in the construction industry saves energy and minimizes landfill waste. Thus, it is time to incorporate recycling into your construction business and keep your wallet full while maintaining a clean environment.
