Thinking Green – Waste Management

As part of thinking green, we need to think about construction waste management. Not only trying to reuse most of the existing materials but also how to dispose of the waste that is produced from the job site. If you are going to try achieve LEED certification for your project or not this subject needs to be thought about.

In LEED the intent of MR Credit 2 Construction Waste Management is to divert construction and demolition debris from disposal in landfills and incinerators. Redirect recyclable recovered resources back to the manufacturing process. Redirect reusable materials to appropriate sites.

The goal of this credit is to divert construction waste from landfills. In many communities, especially in urban areas, recycling opportunities are expanding rapidly. Recycling construction debris reduces the demand for virgin resources; thereby reducing the impact of harvesting new resources from the environment Project teams must also develop and implement a construction waste management plan. At a minimum the plan needs to identify materials that will be diverted from the site, and whether the materials will be sorted on-site or commingled.

Some of the materials your project should consider for waste management include:

-cardboard
-metal
-brick
-concrete
-plastic
-wood
-glass
-wallboard
-carpet
-packaging materials
-These include all of the packing materials that new construction materials are shipped in.

You will need to find companies that will handle the recycling/salvaging of construction waste. These can be easier to find in urban areas where recycling plans are well established. In areas where certain materials may not be able to be recycled, weigh the benefits of finding a hauler that is located farther away where more travel is required vs. the benefit of recycling the material.

Construction waste can be diverted to charitable organizations such as Habitat for Humanity as well.

One company that deals with this topic is Westside TransLoad. They offer their customers full LEED documentation. They are recognized for having extremely high standards, and can help you meet the highest possible LEED criteria. This permits them to provide documentation appropriate for M.R. 2.1 and 2.2 recycling credits, as well as direct documentation to contractors and builders.

All the waste that Westside TransLoad collects is brought back to their state-of-the-art facility, where it is separated and disposed of properly and responsibly. When waste is transported to their fully permitted facility, it is separated and recyclables are removed. The remaining waste is loaded into specialized railcars, right inside the facility. These eco-friendly "Green Way" trains are capable of moving far more waste, use much less energy, reduce traffic on roadways and reduce demand on infrastructure. A single railcar can carry 100 tons of waste, almost five times as much as a long haul truck.

Check out their website: WWW.westsidetransload.com or see my links.