massive construction waste

[balilife]

Have many years experience in west coast Canadian construction industry. The amount of waste that ends up in the landfill is very disheartening. Any fellow forum members utilize upcycled business waste to create products or offer solutions to this issue? thank you

 

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[Primeperiwinkle]

@Vigilante this guy Verlin is promoting himself in like four different threads.

 

[StrikingViper69]

I have a student in the UK who works in construction. He was just talking to me yesterday about how a lot of demolished buildings here get recycled - the concrete and the steel are all re-usable.

Maybe a place to start would be investigating how / why people in the UK do it and then ask why people in your area don't do it?

 

[balilife]

Good call. What we see here in Canada (west coast) is mostly wood waste. Wood waste I want to utilize via upcycle. Save the landfill and utilize building waste in a viable manner. Thank you for the response.

 

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[RazorCut]

I have a student in the UK who works in construction. He was just talking to me yesterday about how a lot of demolished buildings here get recycled - the concrete and the steel are all re-usable.

Maybe a place to start would be investigating how / why people in the UK do it and then ask why people in your area don't do it?

I can tell you the why. There is a huge tax on Landfill here in the UK. An 8 yard skip will typically cost around £220 to £250 to fill and have taken away. That's over $300.

Also the buildings in the UK are predominantly brick or block with Tile or Slate roofs rather than timber frame and asphalt shingles as in a lot of Canada/US homes. We also have a lot of old building which were built with quality materials a hundred plus years ago. I currently own two houses, one built about 50 years ago (brick and block) and the other 120 years ago (stone).

Good quality bricks can be resold for reuse as will the tile, slate and stone if they are in good condition. Metals always have a scrap value in multiples of the cost to reclaim them (especially lead and copper), and concrete can be crushed for use in road construction etc.. Timber tends not to be reused as much unless it is an old building with oak beams, quality old doors, unusual windows and panelling etc. which will command a decent resale price.

There is big business in recycling old building materials with loads of Architectural Reclamation Yards throughout the UK selling everything from stained glass windows to church pews and chimney pots. Some of the stuff you see for sale can be 400 or 500 years old. Here is a Gothic window repurposed into a mirror for example:

Gothic Mirror

 

[StrikingViper69]

I can tell you the why. There is a huge tax on Landfill here in the UK. An 8 yard skip will typically cost around £220 to £250 to fill and have taken away. That's over $300.

Also the buildings in the UK are predominantly brick or block with Tile or Slate roofs rather than timber frame and asphalt shingles as in a lot of Canada/US homes. We also have a lot of old building which were built with quality materials a hundred plus years ago. I currently own two houses, one built about 50 years ago (brick and block) and the other 120 years ago (stone).

Good quality bricks can be resold for reuse as will the tile, slate and stone if they are in good condition. Metals always have a scrap value in multiples of the cost to reclaim them (especially lead and copper), and concrete can be crushed for use in road construction etc.. Timber tends not to be reused as much unless it is an old building with oak beams, quality old doors, unusual windows and panelling etc. which will command a decent resale price.

There is big business in recycling old building materials with loads of Architectural Reclamation Yards throughout the UK selling everything from stained glass windows to church pews and chimney pots. Some of the stuff you see for sale can be 400 or 500 years old. Here is a Gothic window repurposed into a mirror for example:

Gothic Mirror

I was wondering if taxes would play a part in it. Thanks for the reply!