As a homeowner, there are few more exciting prospects in life than renovating your property. What could be better than putting in that new kitchen extension or outdoor deck that will create that dream residence you’ve always wanted?
If you’ve ever watched Grand Designs, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition or Dream Homemaker, your brain will no doubt be bursting with ideas.
But while contemplating which walls to knock down and colour scheme to pick, there is another element of home renovations you should spare a thought for – managing the waste that is created during them.
You might be surprised to learn that construction waste counts for over 33% of all rubbish worldwide that makes it into landfill. Admittedly, much of this comes from commercial businesses or government infrastructure projects. However, there is still a fair amount that comes from home renovations, too.
Unfortunately, these types of projects can result in a lot of waste, due to debris from demolitions, leftover construction materials and various packaging. Collectively, it can have a devastating effect on the environment, causing pollution, destroying ecosystems and wasting natural resources that are already low in supply.
As a result, the right thing to do is to make a commitment to manage the disposal of your construction waste responsibly and in the most environmentally beneficial way possible.
But how do you do that? Allow us to enlighten you.
What type of wastage do home renovations create?
Most home extensions or renovations tend to use resources such as concrete, plastics, bricks, metals and work at some point during the project.
It is the nature of the construction game, however, once a project has been completed, that plenty of these materials need to be disposed of.
If it is not done properly, you risk adding to the following issues:
Overflow of Landfill
Landfill is a site set aside for the disposal of waste materials. In Queensland alone, some 4.28 million tonnes of headline waste was deposited into it in 2023.
Worryingly, the greater the amount of construction related wastage that goes into landfill, the more chances there are of environmental hazards like air toxicity and water pollution happening.
Not only can this cause significant health issues for the local human and wildlife population, but it can also contribute to increased global warming as a result of more and more greenhouse gas emissions.
Higher Energy Consumption
A lot of energy is consumed in the construction industry, especially when creating and transporting building materials.
Therefore, it follows that the more of them you waste, the more the replacements that will be needed to be produced in the future.
At the same time, if you take steps to preserve as many of these materials as you can, you’ll save more energy, and thus, your current resource pool will last much longer.
Deplete Resources
Talking of resources, they won’t unfortunately last forever. Therefore, the more that is used and thrown away due to poor forecasting, usage and management, the faster they will deplete.
For instance, there remains a massive demand for timber which can result in mass deforestation. Likewise, the continued search for minerals leads to significant soil damage and water pollution due to land being churned up.
Both are easy situations to avoid if those within the construction industry place greater importance on responsible waste management.
Best ways to dispose of home renovation waste
If you are planning a home renovation, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce the levels of wastage you need to dispose of.
They include:
Minimising Waste
First of all, you should focus your attention on trying to reduce how much waste you generate in the first place.
Simple ways you can do this are by tighter forecasting of how much materials you need and employing the most efficient methods of renovation to reduce waste.
Sell or donate leftovers
Some leftover materials you don’t have actually have to chuck out. Instead, you can look to sell or donate them.
For instance, any spare bricks, wood, metal or plastic you have can be put up for sale on Facebook Marketplace. You never know who else might need it for their home renovation.
Alternatively, you may prefer to donate it to a local school, charity or youth club, which could use it for recreational or educational metalwork or woodwork activities.
Recycle and reuse
Some items you might not be able to see or donate. However, you may be able to recycle or reuse them at a later time.
Spare pieces of wood can be used to make furniture or used in the landscaping of your garden, while metal can be melted down to become new metal products.
Dispose of your rubbish responsibly
If you have construction waste that can’t be donated, sold, reused or recycled, it will need to be thrown out. But it is important to do this in a socially responsible way.
Doing this will involve separating all of your waste into various piles like paints, electronics, hazardous waste and glass. These items should then be responsibly disposed of in the most appropriate way.
To help you do this, it is worth contacting a company like 1300 Rubbish.