Construction and Demolition Waste Reduction

1. Construction and Demolition Waste Reduction Management and Practices University of Santo Tomas College of Architecture

2. C and D Waste • Are waste materials produced during the construction, renovation, demolition or deconstruction of residential or commercial buildings, and their infrastructure. • Also included within the definition are surplus and damaged products and materials arising in the course of construction work or used temporarily during the course of on-site activities.

3. Types of C and D Waste • Wood (sawn, engineered, lumber, plywood, etc.) • Drywall (plasterboards, gypsum, etc.) • Cardboard and Paper (packaging) • Metals (reinforcements, wiring, piping, conduits, framing, sheet metals etc.) • Concrete and Masonry (bricks, tiles, aggregates, CMU) • Organic (soil, sand, trees, shrubs, etc.) • Plastics (pvc, vinyl, melamine, etc.) • Chemical (paints, lacquers, thinners, caulking material etc.) • Building Components (plumbing fixtures, lights, doors, trim, windows, hardware • Lamps and Glass

4. Best Practices Reduce / Refuse Design Stage • Design buildings in harmony with their surroundings • Designwith standard sizes for all building materials. • Design spaces to be flexible and adaptable to changing uses. • Design for deconstruction. • Specify Pre-fabricated Materials • Consider reusing materials (on-site) or installing salvaged materials from off-site sources. Construction Stage Make a tight and accurate estimating Deliveries should be just in time Reduce packaging waste Centralize cutting areas Require suppliers to take back or buy-back substandard, rejected, or unused items. Practice Inventory Control

5. Best Practices Salvage - is the removal of certain valuable reusable building materials before demolition. • Re-use Deconstruction - involves the careful dismantling of a whole structure in reverse order of assembly, usually by hand, to re-harvest materials for reuse. Adaptive Reuse -  is the process of adapting old structures for new purposes.

6. Best Practices • Recycle Architect Shigeru Ban is well known for a number of high-profile architectural designs but perhaps less so for his artistic and ecological side projects such as the cardboard bridge pictured above. This bridge is composed of over 250 recycled cardboard tubes with recycled paper and plastic comprising the stairs. Amazingly, this recycled bridge can hold up to 20 people at once! Recycle waste on-site Work with local recycling centers Buy recycled products to support the markets for off-site recycling efforts. The following materials are considered to have viable recycling markets: a. Metals b. Many plastics c. Clean wood d. Glass e. Textiles such as carpets f. Old corrugated containers and other collected papers g. Concrete

7. Best Practices • Renew Renewing is similar to reusing, you still reuse the materials salvaged from the work site, but you bring them back to the site and incorporate it into the project design. Examples of this include commissioned artwork and the production of compost or mulch. The only difference from salvage is that the material would be redirected to a processing company and returned to the sight.

8. Identify materials to be salvaged, reused, recycled, and disposed of including materials subcontractors will be responsible for. • Outline procedures, expectations, and results for monitoring, collecting and promoting waste management planning. • Designate a coordinator responsible for implementing the plan. • Set waste management goals, such as “Reuse or recycle 75% of project wastes”. • Developing a Waste Management Plan

9. Define types of wastes. • Estimate the amounts. • Indicate the disposal method for each material reused in place, reused on-site, salvaged, recycled, or landfilled. • Include handling procedures for removal, separation, storage, and/or transportation. • Communicate the plan to all crew members. • Document waste management requirements on project documents, including subcontracts and specifications. • Communicate the results. • Developing a Waste Management Plan

10. A. Educate Everyone About the Waste Management Program. • Share the formalized plan with everyone involved in the project administration. • Discuss waste handling requirements with crew and subcontractors. • Share procedures for checking bin status and the system for notifying haulers for extra containers or pick-ups. • Post easy to read signs with written information about the recycling program. • Continue education by making recycling updates part of your safety program. • Clearly label the recycling drop boxes. • Post lists of what is and what is not recyclable and use pictures for quick identification. • Implementing a Waste Management Plan

11. B. Find the Space • Place garbage bins and recycling drop boxes close to the point of waste generation, but out of the traffic pattern. • Choose smaller containers and more frequent collection. There are a variety of container sizes and service options available from recycling services or haulers. • Use smaller containers to dump into large containers at the end of the day. • Ask recycling service providers about containers with multiple compartments to minimize the number of containers on site. • Rent a trailer for the major recyclable material generated in the first phase of construction and haul directly to the recycler. • If self-hauling, build custom containers to fit the space requirements using scrap or damaged plywood, concrete forms, or barrier fencing. • Use trash cans to collect recyclables generated in smaller amounts. • Implementing a Waste Management Plan

12. C. Make it Convenient • Place the recycling dumpsters as close to the work as possible. • Always provide a container for trash near the recycling containers. • Consider co-mingling small quantities of wood, cardboard, and metals to make one larger load of recyclables. • Provide maps of the job-site to haulers for dumpster placement and pickup. • Implementing a Waste Management Plan

13. Implementing a Waste Management Plan • D. Promote and Educate • Treat waste management like a safety program. Integrate recycle training into the safety education, or design a separate recycling education program. • Create a name or slogan for the recycling program. • Provide incentives to make the plan work. • Use signage and simple clear instructions to communicate. • Be positive! When the crew and subcontractors are motivated and understand the goals, they will figure out creative ways to work efficiently. • Include everyone in the process. Encourage suggestions on more efficient methods, or additional materials that can be recycled.

14. Implementing a Waste Management Plan • E. Track Your Success • Once construction has started, keep the receipts from recycling and garbage disposal for planning estimates in future waste management budgets. • Use Worksheets to report the results and cost savings from recycling on your project. • Share the success by posting the volumes of materials reused or recycled.