Waste Management in Green & Healthy Buildings & Interiors

Waste Management 

Around half of the world’s raw materials go into construction, and a third of the world’s waste is produced through the industry (Miller), making waste reduction and waste management a crucial contributor to reducing landfill and keeping materials in use (ref: the circular economy).

Due to the sheer scale of this impact, strategies of material use reduction, reuse, and recycling are key in all phases of a building project, from the design and pre-construction phase, into construction, in-use and operations phases, as well as the end-of-life phase.

In addition, considering the entire life cycle of raw material extraction, production, and waste is key for an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) real estate strategy. 

The main goals in order of importance for each of these phases would first be to reduce the total amount of waste produced, then to reuse materials that would otherwise be considered waste, and finally to implement waste disposal management through strategies such as recycling, when necessary.

Various strategies can be implemented to reach these goals depending on the building’s phase of life. 

Design & Pre-construction Phase

The design phase is often overlooked when considering waste management, although it has great potential to affect the production of waste throughout the life cycle of the building.

The way a building is designed is the most important factor for how it will function and change in the future. Designing for adaptability, efficient material use, and including recycling opportunities are all key strategies that have the potential to reduce waste production further along the life cycle. 

When considering the life cycle of a building, one way to extend its useful life is to design for adaptability. This means that if the use of the building changes, the structure can be more easily shifted towards another use, therefore avoiding the demolition and reconstruction process, and reducing opportunities for waste production.

For example, a London construction for the 2012 Olympics was designed so that after the games, the used buildings were redesigned for affordable local homes, greatly reducing waste production (Miller). 

In addition, the amount and type of materials used should be considered in the design phase to avoid excess waste created at end of life. Attention to different construction possibilities and the recyclability of materials have the potential to reduce initial material use and increase opportunities for reuse.

This therefore reduces waste production throughout the life cycle of the building. Essentially, the design phase should be used for planning and accounting for all waste-producing activities throughout the building’s life cycle and include management strategies to reduce this waste. 

Construction Phase

In conjunction with the design phase, the construction phase has the potential to reduce large amounts of waste if properly managed. Construction projects should always aim to reduce waste production, and when that is not possible, find was to reuse materials on site and recycle any materials that cannot be used.

A site waste management plan should be employed to monitor all construction activities and optimize waste reductions and reuse opportunities (Best Practice).

Firstly, construction that occurs off-site such as modular construction can be employed, which removes a lot of potential waste problems. In a more controlled environment, modular construction allows for better management of waste, decreases material use, and increases disposal and recycling opportunities.

Off-site construction in general provides greater control, and avoidance of onsite disorganization or weather issues that can lead to material damage. 

On any construction site, the delivery of materials at improper times can cause excess waste. To reduce material deliveries and damages, it is beneficial to bring materials on site ‘just-in-time’ to better align with construction project stages.

This strategy avoids excess materials and opportunities for material damage, which will create unusable materials and therefore create additional waste. Planning the timing of material deliveries and spaces to store materials when not in use is very important in the construction phase of a building (Best Practice).

In addition, when on the construction site it is important to designate areas where waste should be collected when produced and to consider where to place recycling bins or other waste containers on site to make them easily accessible for workers so that waste is properly collected and sorted.

Towards the end of the construction phase, as green building consultants we aim to ensure the proper segregation of materials and designate those that can be reused or recycled in other projects. In addition, to ensure optimized waste management, the training of workers and staff on the construction site is essential. (Best Practice).

In Use / Operations Phase

The in-use phase of the building is an equally important phase for monitoring and reducing waste production. After encouraging building occupants and those operating within a space to reduce waste sent to the landfill, it is essential that there is ample space to provide the segregation and storage of waste when it is accumulated within the building.

Equally, we advise the tracking of waste produced within the building and compare it to benchmarks to ensure that appropriate amounts are diverted from landfills.

To encourage building occupants to produce less waste, strategies such as using signage and providing products that create minimal to no waste are beneficial. Clear signage that encourages the segregation of waste in bins will encourage occupants to participate in recycling practices.

If, for example, the building contains a cafeteria or dining space, food and drink should be made available with minimal or recyclable materials, to reduce waste after use. 

Storage for recycling should be easily accessible to building occupants and include options for paper, glass, plastics, and metals. In addition, composting opportunities should be provided as well as disposal locations for waste such as batteries and other electronics (LEED).

These locations should be easily visible and clearly marked to encourage building occupant use. Once collected on site, it is essential that there are processes in place that bring the segregated waste off site to facilities if not available on site (BREEAM). 

In the design phase, it is important to consider the potential volume of waste produced within the building based on project type and traffic.

The number of bins available should equate to predicted daily and weekly waste production amounts. In the use phase, it is important to monitor and report the amount of waste produced regularly, to ensure the appropriate amount of storage and collection containers (BREEAM).

Also, with waste production and benchmarking information, decisions about the amount of management needed for collecting, storing, and transporting waste off-site can be clarified.

Overall, the goal of waste management in the use phase of a building is to divert as much waste as possible from the landfill.

This is first done through the encouragement of behavioral change to reduce waste production from the occupant side, and then provide locations to sort and recycle waste when produced. When the waste is collected and stored by trained staff, it should be measured to optimize building waste organization and to analyze for further reduction opportunities. 

End of Life Phase

Closely connected to the design and construction phases of the building, the end-of-life phase has the potential to greatly reduce the amount of waste produced from the construction industry. If the building was constructed with adaptability in the design phase, then at end of life, the demolition process is not completely necessary. Also, what is taken apart at end of life should be recycled, reused, or salvaged for another use whenever possible to reduce waste in landfills.

Ideally, the life of the building is extended as much as possible and there is not a need to demolish a structure once it's built. When possible, the building should be refurbished for an alternative use or extended horizontally or vertically if needed, to avoid the need of starting over (BREEAM). If the building can be renovated instead of torn down, the waste produced is immensely reduced.

When demolition is the outcome, salvaging and recycling any material possible is essential to optimize waste reduction. Ideally a closed loop recycling process is utilized, meaning that materials used within the building can be recycled and remanufactured into the same or similar product for another building or project.

In some cases, materials can even be reused on site for a new application in the new construction when applicable. Finally, there are options to return materials to the original supplier to recycle, reuse, and recover the materials.

In the demolition process a term known as deconstruction can be utilized to further salvage materials from the building site and significantly reduce waste production.

Deconstruction involves the process of carefully dismantling a building rather than demolishing it without care, which greatly increases the potential for material reuse and reduces waste from landfills (Sustainable).

Management / ESG Compilation Phase

From an ESG perspective, waste management and reduction are an essential part of a building’s useful life. When considering the whole life cycle of a building, there are numerous opportunities to create large impacts on waste reductions, and therefore the environmental impacts of a project.

It is essential to consider waste in every phase of a project and include plans and management goals from the initiation of a build.

From the environmental side of the real estate ESG strategy, aka the “E” part of ESG, waste cannot be overlooked. Ideally a building or project contributes to the concept of a circular economy through the lens of waste.

Although a fully closed loop is difficult to achieve with any man-made building or system, considering ways to close the material loop and therefore eliminate waste is a key mindset. 

The reduction of raw material extraction and waste production through strategies such as thoughtful design, smart construction strategies, proper management of waste in the in-use phase, as well as reducing waste at the end of a building’s life are essential.

A project’s waste management plan and ESG strategy go hand in hand – both essential to reducing the environmental impact of the built environment, a duty of those of us operating within the building industry. 

Sources

“ Best Practice Guide to Improving Waste Management on Construction Sites.” Resource Efficient Scotland, Scotland. 

Miller, Norman. “The Industry Creating a Third of the World's Waste.” BBC Future, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211215-the-buildings-made-from-rubbish. 

“Sustainable Management of Construction and Demolition Materials.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-management-construction-and-demolition-materials. 

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