'Waste not the smallest thing created;
For grains of sand make mountains,
and atomies infinity"
--E. Knight
The adage runs: out of sight, out of mind. It’s a very apt adage when it comes to the topic of waste removal. We empty our dumpsters and the waste company hauls it away to be buried or burned – out of sight, out of mind.
Part of the green build process is to make people think about waste. It does this in a couple of ways. One, by encouraging contractors to employ build techniques that reduce waste, such as advanced framing. Second, green build experts recommend on-site source separation of waste materials. This means that each recyclable material (e.g. metal scrap, cardboard, framing remnants) is sorted by type into a separate, clearly labeled roll-up container or bin. Each type of waste material may then be weighed before it leaves the work site or as it arrives at the appropriate processing site. As much as possible, the material is diverted from the landfill to recycling centers, is reused in other building projects, or is renewed (turned into another usable product). In order to keep track of all this waste, how it will be separated, and where it is being directed to, a recycling coordinator may be assigned to the project to develop a Waste Management Plan. This plan is shared on a regular basis with everyone on the construction site from the workers to visitors. Communication is key to making sure that the Waste Management Plan is carried out properly and that the process is accurately documented.
It seems like a lot of work for waste. Indeed, for a step that is normally straight forward in the construction process, this step caused us some serious frustrations. These frustrations generally centered around finding the appropriate recycling centers in the area to take the kinds of materials that Greenth Street would be producing. In addition, the main company that we originally intended to use for most of our recycled material closed its operation, requiring us to start the process all over again and find separate centers for each type of waste material. We also had to decide how many bins and roll-up containers we would need for each type of material we could recycle (plus one container for non-recyclable material going to the landfill). Fortunately we had some help addressing these issues from Waste Management, Metro Waste Authority, and Iowa Waste Exchange.
Some people might think that with the extra work needed to reduce, reuse, recycle and renew it is not worth the effort. However, the alternative – that is, sending all waste material to the landfill or incinerator – adds to a waste stream that is rapidly overflowing its banks. In 2006 the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that the U.S. produces 251 million tons of municipal solid waste – approximately 4.6 pounds of waste per day per citizen1. That’s a lot of waste to ignore. And the expense to keep it hidden and contained from contaminating soil, water and air resources can be high. For instance, in 2004 the average tipping fee for landfill waste in Iowa was $32.42/ton and the rate of waste was 6,000 tons a day – a total expenditure of $194, 520 per day just on landfill waste.
Waste management planning for a green, LEED certified project such as Greenth Street, is not always easy, but it is worth it.
For more statistics about waste material production in the United States go to:
The Clean Air Council
http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): -- http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/index.htm
For grains of sand make mountains,
and atomies infinity"
--E. Knight
The adage runs: out of sight, out of mind. It’s a very apt adage when it comes to the topic of waste removal. We empty our dumpsters and the waste company hauls it away to be buried or burned – out of sight, out of mind.
Part of the green build process is to make people think about waste. It does this in a couple of ways. One, by encouraging contractors to employ build techniques that reduce waste, such as advanced framing. Second, green build experts recommend on-site source separation of waste materials. This means that each recyclable material (e.g. metal scrap, cardboard, framing remnants) is sorted by type into a separate, clearly labeled roll-up container or bin. Each type of waste material may then be weighed before it leaves the work site or as it arrives at the appropriate processing site. As much as possible, the material is diverted from the landfill to recycling centers, is reused in other building projects, or is renewed (turned into another usable product). In order to keep track of all this waste, how it will be separated, and where it is being directed to, a recycling coordinator may be assigned to the project to develop a Waste Management Plan. This plan is shared on a regular basis with everyone on the construction site from the workers to visitors. Communication is key to making sure that the Waste Management Plan is carried out properly and that the process is accurately documented.It seems like a lot of work for waste. Indeed, for a step that is normally straight forward in the construction process, this step caused us some serious frustrations. These frustrations generally centered around finding the appropriate recycling centers in the area to take the kinds of materials that Greenth Street would be producing. In addition, the main company that we originally intended to use for most of our recycled material closed its operation, requiring us to start the process all over again and find separate centers for each type of waste material. We also had to decide how many bins and roll-up containers we would need for each type of material we could recycle (plus one container for non-recyclable material going to the landfill). Fortunately we had some help addressing these issues from Waste Management, Metro Waste Authority, and Iowa Waste Exchange.
Some people might think that with the extra work needed to reduce, reuse, recycle and renew it is not worth the effort. However, the alternative – that is, sending all waste material to the landfill or incinerator – adds to a waste stream that is rapidly overflowing its banks. In 2006 the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that the U.S. produces 251 million tons of municipal solid waste – approximately 4.6 pounds of waste per day per citizen1. That’s a lot of waste to ignore. And the expense to keep it hidden and contained from contaminating soil, water and air resources can be high. For instance, in 2004 the average tipping fee for landfill waste in Iowa was $32.42/ton and the rate of waste was 6,000 tons a day – a total expenditure of $194, 520 per day just on landfill waste.
Waste management planning for a green, LEED certified project such as Greenth Street, is not always easy, but it is worth it.
For more statistics about waste material production in the United States go to:
The Clean Air Council
http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): -- http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/index.htm
For the Best Practices Manual: Waste Reduction Construction and Demolition Debris, sponsored by IOWA Life Changing, Iowa DNR, and Iowa Waste Reduction Center go to: http://www.iwrc.org/downloads/pdf/BMP_C_and_D.pdf.
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1From the EPA’s website: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/facts.htm
2 From Solid Waste Digest, Vol. 14 No. 6.
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1From the EPA’s website: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/facts.htm
2 From Solid Waste Digest, Vol. 14 No. 6.
Photo: Image #1077158 from stock.xchng.com
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