The waste generated during construction of your new build or renovation can be substantial. And you pay for every material that goes into the skip bin, or is over-ordered for your project.

In this episode, I share how sustainable builders separate and manage waste on even the most compact sites, and the questions to ask up front.

Listen to the episode now.

Hello! This is Episode 438. This is Way #38 of the ‘44 Ways to Create Your Sustainable Home’ series, and we’re continuing through Section Eight: Sustainability During Construction.

Way #38 is: Manage Waste During Construction.

Last episode, Way #37, we talked about demolition waste: what happens to the materials that come out of a building when it’s being knocked down or partially demolished. 

In this episode, I’ll talk more about the waste that gets generated during the construction of your new build or renovation itself.

When people think about building site waste, they often picture the demolition side: the old walls, the old roof, the skip full of rubble that comes out when a building comes down. However, the waste generated in the process of construction itself can be quite substantial.

A construction site generates waste from offcuts of structural materials, from unused or over-ordered products, and from the enormous volume of packaging that arrives with almost everything that gets delivered to site.

Unless your builder is actively managing their waste production and waste streams, this waste will go into the site skip bin and head to landfill. 

And the problem with mixed waste is that mixing it makes most of it unrecyclable. It becomes landfill by default.

In Episode 429, Way #29: Choose for Recyclability and Low (or No) Waste, I talked about considering waste and recyclability in your material, fixtures, finishes and product selection. During that episode, I spoke about the Green Building Council’s research about construction waste.

To remind you of the highlights, I’ll share this excerpt. It does discuss apartments, but I believe that an individual house will not be too dissimilar: 

“Australia is on track to waste up to $64 billion in construction materials over the next five years unless urgent action is taken to improve how we design, build and recover resources across the property sector. 

“A new report, Australia’s waste[d] Opportunity 2025, has revealed that the average building project wastes 141 kilograms of material per square metre, the equivalent of a fully stocked fridge for every square metre constructed. 

“While 83% of projects reported landfill diversion rates over 90%, the report found that actual recovery rates for materials like plastic were as low as 14%, and 22% of materials used to construct a typical apartment never make it into the final building, costing owners an estimated $52,000 per apartment.”

So how do you minimise construction waste on your project?

A big part of getting this right will come down to how waste is actually handled during construction on your site, and that will be your builder’s responsibility. 

It is, however, your responsibility to choose the builder.

Many builders are now successfully diverting a large proportion of their construction waste from landfill through on-site separation systems. This looks like different bins for different materials, maintained throughout the build so that each waste stream stays clean and can be redirected to its best outcome. 

Even on the most compact of sites, this works. It doesn’t require a huge amount of space. But it does require a system that everyone working on site understands and follows, and a builder who enforces it as part of how the site is run.

Plastic wrapping and polystyrene are the waste streams that cause the most frustration, they can have very limited recycling infrastructure. So, this is where the sourcing conversation becomes important. If products arrive on site wrapped in materials that can’t be recycled, the waste problem is baked in before construction even begins.

I saw a great video recently by Brendan Lang at Get Off Gas, showing how he was dealing with styrofoam packaging from the various appliances he installs for his clients. He noted that 80% of Australia’s EPS or polystyrene ends up in landfill, and that it’s 98% air, won’t compact and it hangs around for hundreds of years.

There are builders who are now assessing their supplier relationships partly on this basis. If a supplier consistently delivers products in excessive, non-recyclable packaging and won’t engage on alternatives, a builder committed to low-waste construction practices may eventually look elsewhere. That market signal, multiplied across enough projects, is what will move suppliers to change their practices.

It’s worth noting that the site is the builder’s…

Many homeowners forget this, and assume they’ll be able to get involved in the waste minimisation of construction waste, be able to walk on site when they want to, and drive what happens there. 

However, once the contract commences and the builder takes possession of your site, it’s their workplace, and they can control what happens and who has access. 

So, it’s essential that any expectations and priorities you have, not only for waste minimisation but for sustainability in general, are all part of your early discussions, your selection of your builder, and then managed through your contract documentation.

In this Episode, I cover:

• What construction waste on a build site actually looks like
• The Green Building Council of Australia’s $64 billion construction waste figure, and why 22% of materials never make it into the final build
• How on-site separation systems work, even on compact sites, and what good waste management looks like in practice
• The two problem streams, plastic and polystyrene
• Why reducing packaging is largely a sourcing and supplier choice, and how builders can shift supplier behaviour by rewarding better packaging
• The call to builders and trades to share their waste management work on social media
• What to ask your builder about site waste management plans
• Why the construction site is the builder’s workplace, and why your sustainability priorities have to be set at the contract stage, not during construction

Plus a whole lot more.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

RESOURCES:

Episode 437, on reducing demolition waste >>> 44 Ways #37

Episode 429, on choosing for recyclability and low waste >>> 44 Ways #29

Episode 435, on getting a blower door test >>> 44 Ways #35

Episode 436, on including a thermal imaging inspection >>> 44 Ways #36

A free guide to simplifying sustainability across research, planning, design, materials, and building, from Amelia Lee’s 30+ years in residential design and construction >>> 44 Ways to Create a Sustainable Home

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my signature online program >>> HOME Method