Construction Waste Management

Construction Waste Management is the process of separation and recycling of waste material generated while construction, deconstruction/demolish and renovation of any structure.
To understand the procedure, you need to answer of two important question-

Why there is need of recycling of construction waste? 

1. To reduce the demand of new construction material which ultimately cut their cost.
2. To achieve the goal of sustainable development.
3. To reduce the waste which goes into landfill leads to soil and water pollution.
4. Cut down the cost of Transportation and Production.

It ultimately lead to save the environment and make its situation better than today. 

What to Recycle?

Before the recycle process,you should know what kind of waste can be recycle?. These material includes waste of following:

• Wood and Plywood
• Plastic
• Cardboard and Paper
• Masonry 
• Metals
• Roofing
• Windows and Doors 
• Insulation 
• Asphalt
• Miscellaneous 

Containers for materials recycling must be provided. Waste must be separated on site. There should be proper arrangement for material that can deteriorate under the rainfall or other climate conditions.

Containers should be monitored periodically. You can also approach to recycling center near site. But if recycling center is far than it is uneconomically to transport. 

How we can do it?

Wood and Plywood 

• Optimize the building the dimension to Wood(Lumber) dimensions. It prevent the unnecessary cutting and trimming of wood.
• Make the detail frame layout while ordering to reduce waste.
• Collect the small wooden scraps which is used as kindling.
• Use the saw dust in composite pile or in gardens.
• Plywood in good conditions can be used again in furniture and other works. 
• Used Timber can be easily utilized easily by cleaning, de-nailing and sizing it.

Plastic 

• In Japan, practice is made in which plastic is heated at very high temperature which converted it into ultra fine particle called as man made soil.
• Trash Bags and Plastic Sheeting can be recycled through Ecology Action.
• Minimize the waste of flooring, countertop material by ordering only required quantity.
• Plastic waste can be used along with bituminous in road construction ( generally called Plastic Road).

Cardboard and Paper

• Avoid excessive packaged material and supplies. but be sure packaging should of sufficient amount to avoid damage and waste.
• Recycle the cardboard and Paper.It attracts recycler to reprocess them as new paper product by purification.

Masonry

• Bricks in good conditions can be used again in masonry. Before using, excessive old mortar should be removed from bricks especially from frog.
• Broken, useless bricks, stone and concrete can be used as back filling in foundations. 
• Masonry can be converted into masonry aggregates by crushing the masonry pieces.
• The masonry can be used as aggregates in traditional clay bricks. 

Metals

• Consider the front yard sale for all type of usable materials in construction site.
• Use the metal appliances which are in good conditions.
• Sell the unusable ferrous metal material  to recycle center where metals are melted down and reform into metal products.
• Scrap steel can be recycled 100% to avoid wastage. 

Windows and Doors

•  Old Windows and Doors in good conditions can be used again in building construction.

Insulation

• Install the left over insulation in interior wall cavities or on top of installed attic insulation if it can not be used on another job. 

Asphalt 

• These asphalt can be used in road pavement material and patching material. 
• Asphalt Shingles can be ground into smaller particles and can be used to fill potholes.
• Left over Shingles can be donated.

Miscellaneous 

• Branches and trees cleared from construction site can be stored separately. It can be used as landscaping mulch.
• Aggregates recovered by crushing concrete can be used again in concrete or as pavement in base course of road.
• Dirt, rock and sand become Alternative Daily Cover in Landfill.
• Scraps of Dry Wall can be mixed with soil to provide nutrient rich food to plants.
• Glass from old window or other places can be reused. If not, then sell to glass maker.
• Appliances which are still working can be donate to some NGO or someone who need the most.

Tips on management the construction waste

• Prefer Deconstruction than demolishing the structure.
• Build to standard dimensions.
• Always put back into new building. 

• Suggest more ideas about how we reuse, recycle and reduce the construction waste in below comment section.
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