How To Recycle Waste From Construction
Excess waste can pile up quickly on a building site, so, it’s important to know how to recycle waste from construction correctly. Recycling makes a huge impact as it saves the earth’s precious resources and prevents harmful emissions from polluting the air. That’s why the easiest and most beneficial solution is to hire a skip bin and sort your waste accordingly. Read on to learn what skip bin you should hire and how to correctly pack your waste.
Overview:
- What is construction waste?
- What construction waste can be recycled
- How to recycle waste from construction
- FAQs
What is construction waste?
Construction and demolition waste includes any leftover materials used during the process of creating a new structure, building or during renovation or demolition. There are a wide variety of construction waste materials from brick and ceramics to drywall, cement and hazardous asbestos materials.
Construction waste can also include many other hazardous materials including liquid waste such as paints, oils and chemicals, mercury, lead based materials and electronic waste. These types of materials require a different waste disposal method and cannot be placed in a skip bin.
What construction waste can be recycled?
According to the Construction and Demolition Waste Guide, there are a number of construction materials that can be recycled. These include:
- Bricks and concrete
- Asphalt
- Metal
- Timber
- Plastic
- Plasterboard
- Rock and excavation stone
- Soil and sand
To properly recycle these materials, you need to ensure you have an effective construction waste removal plan in action. This all starts with…
How to recycle waste from construction
Choose the right skip bin
It may be difficult knowing the right place to dispose of your construction waste. But, when it comes to recycling, you can’t just put it in the general waste skip bin. That’s why we have specific construction waste bins where you can conveniently load all your building materials, without the hassle of transporting your waste to landfill.
Depending on the size and type of your construction project, you will need to select the right skip bin size. Here at Just Skips, we offer 3 handy sized skip bins to choose from, including:
- 4m3
- 6m3
- 9m3
If you have any other types of waste such as electronic waste or green waste, we advise reading through our waste types page to learn more.
Sort your waste
If you’re producing large quantities of construction waste, we highly recommend getting separate, waste specific skip bins. Before you start building, note down all the types of waste you’ll have on the site (i.e. sand and soil, brick and concrete, glass). Then, designate an area where the waste will be deposited. This way you can clearly label the bins and ensure the waste is being properly recycled.
Pack your skip bin correctly
When it comes to packing your skip bin, you want to pack it correctly and efficiently so you can get the best value for your money.
We recommend sorting your waste into their respective piles and breaking up bigger items, so you can pack them as tightly as possible to maximise space in your bin.
You also want to ensure that you are paying close attention to the weight limit of your chosen skip bin. For our brick and concrete disposal, the 9 cubic metre bins can only be filled 3 quarters of the way up. Our 4 and 6 cubic metre bins can be filled to the top. But, please ensure that you avoid overfilling your skip bins, as this could lead to injuries for anyone who comes into contact with the bin.
Just Skips is here to help
Construction projects can often lead to a lot of leftover waste. Luckily you have come to the right place. Here at Just Skips, we are committed to sustainability and protecting the environment. So, when you choose us for your environmental skip hire, we will take your usable waste to a licensed facility for it to be re-used!
If you have any questions about how to recycle waste from construction, the friendly team at Just Skips are here to assist you. You can contact us on (08) 8255 6677 or contact us online today.
FAQs about how to recycle waste from construction
What are the benefits of recycling construction waste?
Recycling your construction materials, instead of taking them to landfill, is beneficial both environmentally and economically. Below are some of the benefits of recycling your building materials:
- Saves energy
By recycling your construction materials, this decreases the amount of natural resources being used, which leads to saved energy. Recycling and reusing materials can save up to 8 times as much energy and helps to prevent harmful carbon emissions.
- Decreased waste in landfills
Landfill is a major source of pollution and it is filling up fast. Recycling is a great way to reduce waste by finding alternative uses for valuable materials.
- Cost effective
Choosing to recycle your construction materials is a cost-effective method as you will be saving on hefty disposal and landfill fees. It can also save on construction and transportation costs of purchasing new materials.
- Reduces harmful emissions
As many harmful materials are brought to landfill, bacteria will react with gypsum in dry walls and produce a toxic gas. By recycling your construction materials, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by 46,000 metric tons each year.
What happens to construction waste?
Construction waste can be disposed of by taking it to landfill or by recycling it. But, taking your waste to landfill should be avoided as the slow breakdown of waste creates toxins, greenhouse gas emissions and leachate.
Instead, we recommend hiring a skip bin to recycle all your leftover construction materials. When you hire a skip bin at Just Skips, we will take all your waste to a licensed sorting facility, where valuable materials will be repurposed for similar projects or for a new use!
Learn more: How to hire a skip bin
How much does it cost to recycle waste from construction?
Our skip bin prices will depend on the type of project you’re doing and how much waste you have. At Just Skips, we have 3 different affordable skip bins, ranging from $250 to $450 for a 7 day hire period. You can also hire skip bins for extended periods of time as needed. If you want to learn more about our skip bin hire in Adelaide, get in touch with us today and we will provide the best solution for your construction waste needs!
