Building can be a messy business. But where rubbish dumps once seemed a convenient solution for our unwanted materials, now they look more toxic.
It’s estimated that construction and demolition waste currently makes up to 50% of New Zealand’s waste – a practice that pollutes our land, wastes valuable resources, and is increasingly costly.
With landfills filling to capacity, the Ministry of Environment’s Waste Minimisation Levy rose to $50 per tonne in 2023/2024 and will rise again to $60 in 2024/2025.
Adopting more circular ways of working involves new attitudes and habits at every point of the building cycle. Tackling the challenge is in the best interests of us all.
Here are five ways to help us be more effective at cutting waste when building.
1. Rethink the cost
Your Saturday trip to the tip just got more expensive – but that might not be such a bad thing.
“Compared to the rest of the world, New Zealand is still a very cheap place to dump rubbish,” says Ruth Boyes, general manager of waste specialists Junk Run. “We get charged a lot less in terms of tax compared to the rest of the OECD and Australia.”
Sarah Heeinga
Circular ways of working involves new habits at every point of your renovation project. One example is taking surplus paint and empty containers back to your local Resene ColorShop for recycling or responsible disposal through their PaintWise scheme.
In June 2023, solid waste levies in New South Wales rose to $163 per tonne for city waste and $94 per tonne for regions. Other territories also announced price increases. Western Australia’s waste levy will be $85 per tonne from July 2024, the state’s first levy increase since 2018.
“When tax levies are higher, it disincentives dumping and that money can be used for reducing waste and related projects,” says Boyes.
2. Deconstruct don’t demolish
If your project involves demolition, try using a prying bar, rather than a sledgehammer, says Mark Roberts, Senior Waste Planning Specialist, Auckland Council. “Try to retrieve materials in a way that preserves any value they have.”
3 Separate to save
“Anything that goes in a skip or a flexi-bag typically ends up in landfill,” says Boyes.
Junk Run removes unwanted used materials and items from homes and businesses, with the goal of recycling or returning items to the community. This can involve anything from construction sites, to home DIY renovations or deceased estates. Items are sorted and separated by staff trained to spot things with potential.
Supplied/Stuff
Ruth Boyes, general manager of Junk Run (left), second-hand materials are dropped off at Ara Education Charitable Trust (right).
Surplus paint and empty paint containers can be taken to your local Resene ColorShop for recycling or responsible disposal through their PaintWise scheme.
4. Re-use where you can
“If a piece of timber is more than 600mm – what we call an arm’s length – it can potentially be used again as a nog or piece of framing timber,” says Boyes.
Sheets of roofing iron, quality insulation, windows, doors, plywood, kitchen cabinets, bathroom components, a set of stairs, are all examples of items that might have ended up in landfill, but instead were collected by Junk Run and passed on to South Auckland non-profit, the Ara Education Charitable Trust (AECT).
At AECT, old relocatable houses are renovated as part of hands-on learning experiences for students. The Forever House project is one of their latest low-cost, sustainable refurbishments.
Junk Run are long-time supporters of AECT, and Boyes says it’s “a win-win to support the amazing work they do with students, and to provide materials for fixing up the houses they’re working on.”
5. Turn trash to cash
Your waste is someone else’s treasure. Even the most random items can be of value to someone else. Try listing items online at Civil Share, a New Zealand-owned site for trading, sharing, swapping and hiring building materials and machines.
Paint returned to Resene through PaintWise is donated to community groups. Junk Run donates clients’ unwanted furniture to charity shops, where staff will sometimes “clap their hands with glee.”
Of the countless truckloads of goods saved from landfill over the years, one of the most memorable for Boyes was a large polystyrene snowman that came from a shopping mall Christmas grotto.
“It ended up at a costume hire outfit for use as a prop,” says Boyes. “Seeing it driving down the street with its enormous head sticking up above the top of the truck was quite hilarious!
Follow the progress of the Forever House as Ara Education Charitable Trust, Stuff and our sponsors turn a derelict house into a warm, dry, eco-friendly and low-cost home.
Click here to donate to AECT. To donate time, expertise, building materials or make a building product contribution, get in touch with the team by emailing editor@foreverproject.co.nz
