LANDFILL DIVERSION PART 2 – WHERE TO RECYCLE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

In Part 1 of our landfill diversion series we focused on where you can donate extra construction materials lying around your site. In Part 2 of our blog post we will focus on where you can recycle construction waste throughout the Lower Mainland and the Sea to Sky Corridor.

Did you know that we are passionate about landfill diversion as it’s the process that will keep the most amount of materials from ending up in our landfills? The success of this diversion can be measured by comparing the size of the landfill from one year to the next. Most municipalities and cities are dealing with the issue of where to expand their landfills to, or altogether start new landfills as the old ones are full. 

With all the construction waste we haul from sites throughout the Lower Mainland and the Sea to Sky Corridor, it would be easy just to dump everything straight into the landfill and just head on to the next job. But that way of thinking doesn’t align with our values!

Our mission is to try and keep as much construction waste out of our local landfills as we can by recycling building materials such as:

Appliances, Tools and Hardware, Lumber, Light Fixtures, Lamps, Ceiling Fans, Drywall, Paint, and any type of packaging (plastic foam sheets, shrink wrap, plastic bags, styrofoam, and cardboard)

In the Sea to Sky Corridor; there are 2 main landfills, one is in Whistler and the other in Squamish. In Squamish, there is Carney’s Recycle Centre where you can take your cardboard, soft and hard plastics as well as glass to. Also, if you have a large amount of metal, our friends at Allied Salvage will recycle the metal for you and even pay you to get rid of it, it’s a win-win! They accept a large variety of ferrous and non ferrous metals including copper, brass, aluminum, stainless steel, tin and cast iron.

At the Squamish landfill, you can recycle your cardboard, metal, styrofoam and appliances inside the disposal area. Upon the entrance, there is an area completely dedicated to recycling including paint and also for plastics.

In Whistler, the transfer station has a HUGE recycling area inside where you can dispose your cardboard, drywall, metal and plastics as well as your appliances. Plus, the staff are very knowledgeable too. You can also take all your wood waste there which will end up getting mulched up for fuel.

In the Lower Mainland, it’s hard to dispose certain packaging foam sheets, poly vapor barrier as well shrink wrap as they don’t accept this at the transfer station recycling area so in this case we take it to WCS in North Vancouver. Here is a link to what they accept at their depot, there is a small fee to dispose this material but the service and knowing where it goes, is all worth it.

For larger amounts of cardboard, we like to work with Emterra, sometimes we have a full load of cardboard and dispose this large amount at their yard but you have to ask before you go in, they don’t let everyone in. They also have a couple of cardboard bins outside in which you can get rid of a larger amount rather than going to the North Vancouver Transfer recycling area.

The North Vancouver recycling area is great and the staff are very knowledgeable too. You can dispose your metal, paint, cardboard and your plastics (be mindful of what you recycle, they do accept hard plastic, only plastic bags.) It’s a one stop shop for free.

In North Vancouver, you can also get rid of your metals at North Shore Metal Recycling and in Vancouver you can recycle your metal at North Star Metal Recycling.

In Coquitlam, we recommend Happy Stan's which would be able to recycle construction materials such as cardboard, large appliances, plastics, scrap wood and pallets. Foam Only, also based in Coquitlam, accepts clean white expanded polystyrene. Other acceptable items include: White expanded polystyrene commonly called STYROFOAM™ brand foam, Coloured expanded EPS foam, #4 Polyethylene foam(Commonly used in computer packaging), #5 Polypropylene Foam.

In regards to drywall you can recycle it in New Westminster at New West Gypsum Recycling. We wrote a blog post about it in which you can read all about how it gets recycled and about the process on how we can haul away drywall for you.

Still feeling overwhelmed? Please download the BC Recyclepedia Smart Phone App! It has been such a helpful tool on our journey. It was developed by our friends at The Recycling Council of British Columbia (RCBC), in partnership with the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC), the free app is a quick and simple tool that helps users find over 1,000 drop-off locations and recycling options for over 70 materials or products across BC.

Lastly, we are members of The Recycling Council of British Columbia which facilitates the exchange of ideas and knowledge that enable efficient solutions to eliminate waste. It was founded in 1974, RCBC is Canada's longest serving recycling council, but it is about more than just recycling. RCBC works to prevent and reduce the use of resources before they ever need to be recycled. Their website is a wealth of knowledge and very easy to navigate, whenever you are unsure about something to recycle on your construction site, you can call them up through the Recycling Hotline or go on their website, or check on the Recyclepedia app.

We really recommended having our recycling stations on your site. Not only will these stations help streamline the recycling / sorting of your waste materials, it will also keep as much as possible out of your local landfill. The stations will also make tracking waste for a Green Built or LEED project waste diversion report more efficient. A Waste Diversion Report provides data on where your material went and how it was disposed which you can in turn share with your customers both in-person and online (website and social media). 

At Sea to Sky Removal we are always ready with the education and tools to make recycling and greening your site easy, even second nature. A recycling station fits this bill perfectly and can be easily implemented at any point in a project, from the time the first crew is on-site to when the last person clocks out. The stations are also ideal for contractor yards / storage areas as we offer an on-going service on each client’s schedule.

We’d be happy to do all the recycling for you as well as dispose your actual garbage responsibly. 

Landfill Diversion Part 1 – Where to Donate Construction Materials

When you visit a landfill you will witness first hand the amount of needless waste that is thrown away and if you haven’t ever been, go. Yes, it’s smelly (and probably not a great social outing) but we promise it will make you think twice about what you throw away on your construction site.

We are passionate about landfill diversion as it’s the process that will keep the most amount of materials from ending up in our landfills. The success of this diversion can be measured by comparing the size of the landfill from one year to the next. Most municipalities and cities are dealing with the issue of where to expand their landfills to, or altogether start new landfills as the old ones are full.

We dedicate Part 1 of this blog post to where you can donate extra construction materials lying around your site. We also work with these organizations on a project by project basis.

With all the construction waste we haul from sites throughout the Lower Mainland and the Sea to Sky Corridor, it would be easy just to dump everything straight into the landfill and just head on to the next job. But that way of thinking doesn’t align with our values! Our mission is to try and keep as much construction waste out of our local landfills as we can by donating building materials that can be repurposed such as:

·       Appliances

·       Tools and Hardware

·       Windows and Solid Core Doors

·       Lumber, Trim, Plywood (nails removed and min. 4ft length)

·       Light Fixtures, Lamps and Ceiling Fans

·       Sinks and Toilets

·       Drywall (full sheets) & Insulation (full bag)

·       Kitchen and Bathroom Cabinets

·       Paint min. ¾ full, less than year old with labels

There are two awesome places in which we donate used building materials in the Sea to Sky Corridor, which are Squamish ReBuild and Whistler Re-Build-It Centre.

Squamish Rebuild is a not-for-profit social enterprise that diverts reusable construction 'waste' from the landfill and provides community members with good quality, affordable building supplies.

The other place we like to donate building materials to is Whistler Re-Use-It Centre. Their mission is to provide programs and services that support social sustainability in Whistler and their vision is “To be the leading social service resource in Whistler by responding to the changing needs of a diverse Whistler community.”

In the Lower Mainland we like to donate construction materials to Restore, which has locations in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby and Maple Ridge.

Did you know that Habitat for Humanity works with families in need (or as we call them, Partner Families) to build safe, decent and affordable housing? Houses are sold to Partner Families with no down-payment and are financed with affordable, no interest mortgages. Families invest 500 hours of their own labour, what we refer to as sweat equity, into building their own houses and those of other families.

A ReStore is a home decor and building supply store that sells new and gently-used items for your home and garden. The best part is that they are mainly volunteer-run; ReStore is a social enterprise and funds 100% of Habitat's operations. And it's from this money that we build homes for our deserving partner families. A win-win situation all-around!

Another place we like to work within the lower mainland is RE/PURPOSE, which is dedicated to reducing the levels of construction, deconstruction, and other wastes entering our landfills and incinerators through their redirection back into the community as useable items or as raw manufacturing materials.

And there you have it, these are great places to donate used building materials to and they align with our values by keeping as much construction waste out of our local landfills as well as building community and being environmentally focused. Stay tuned for our next Landfill Diversion blog post on where we recycle construction waste.

Efficient AND SUSTAINABLE Construction Waste Management Practices

We thought we’d share some of our knowledge when it comes to efficient construction waste management practices done with an environmental focus.

Having a team dedicated to keeping a construction site clean and green is the key but more importantly, how can it be implemented? By training your crew on how to dispose of all the construction waste properly and also having a waste hauler who is focused on keeping as much out of the landfill as possible.

First, may we suggest having a recycling station for metal, cardboard, and plastic (ideal for packaging foam, coffee lids, hard packaging from tools, or finishing items). We have implemented these stations on construction sites and feel they have been incredibly successful on diverting waste from our local landfills.

In regards to other construction materials perhaps considered garbage, we have broken it down for you plus if you can find dedicated spaces for all these materials and label them, you are way ahead of the game!

Drywall: This has to be separated no matter what, so we suggested keep it in a separate pile. Drywall must be date-stamped showing 1987 or newer, or pre 1987 must be accompanied by a testing report from an approved facility such as A.C.M. Environmental in Vancouver or Kinetic OHS Services in North Vancouver that shows it to be free and clear of asbestos and other banned material. For the Sea to Sky Corridor this date is 1990.

If you do not have time to get it tested we'd be happy to provide this service for you for a fee of $100 plus the testing fee. All we would need is a sample that contains a section of tape and mud (as this is where the asbestos will be found if present) and be bagged in a zip-lock bag with the address and location in the house/building where it was taken from written on it e.g kitchen or bathroom.

To learn more about sustainable recycling of drywall read our blog post about it here.

Clean Wood: Any building wood that is free and clear of paint or any stain. Most transfer stations don’t allow plywood to go in a clean wood pile but Whistler and Squamish accept it in the clean wood load. If we find lengths of 4 feet or more that can be reused we donated them to local non for profits who will repurpose them.

Dirty Wood: As mentioned above, plywood and gluelam are sadly considered garbage at most transfer stations as well as painted or stained wood so keep these in your garbage pile unless you have a project in the Sea to Sky Corridor in which they will accept plywood and gluelam in the wood pile.

Stone: If you have broken up concrete without rebar or bricks, that can actually get recycled, so keep that in a separate pile.

Food Waste: Food waste can be composted, but please keep this secure in case you have any furry visitors on your site. Being bear and critter aware is important. With that said, our solution is to have plywood boxes made with a hinged top that has double locks on it. The bins should be sized to accommodate two standard Rubbermaid bins. To save on costs, bins made by crew might be the best option. We will be able to service these as needed but expecting it to be weekly or bi-weekly depending on the size.

These bins should solely be used for the organic waste created. Wrappers or packaging will NOT go in these bins, just organics to save space and make it so these bins can be recycled straight into organics at the landfill. We will provide your site with the compostable bin liners needed to make the disposal of these as cheap and efficient as possible. 

Carpet: Receiving requirements for carpet and underlay recycling must be dry and free of debris. Rolls need to be self-tied with carpet tail, string/twine or tape. Carpet and underlay should be cut in strips that are no more than 4’6” wide. No carpet from staircases, due to all the staples. Carpet and underlay must be free from staples and rolled separately. Underlay can be stacked on the same pallet as carpet. No small carpet scraps or trimmings, these go into the garbage pile. No rubber underlay. No construction debris (e.g. asbestos, sheetrock), tack strips, transition mouldings, and food scraps. We will be able to get this recycled for you so please contact us ahead of time so we can consult with you on this process.

Garbage: Keep a lot of garbage bins around your sites including clear garbage bags. Clear garbage bags also help to see what has been disposed of. We are always surprised to see so many sites without garbage bins! If you have labeled garbage bins on site your crews will know what they can dispose of in them.

Here is a list of construction waste that is considered waste:

Dirty paint brushes, anything with paint on it such as clear plastic or wood, insulation, damaged tarps, MDF, ceiling tile, coffee cups, hoses, dirty buckets, vapour barrier with any accoustic seal, tape or just plain dirty, less than 100 square feet of flooring or tile, drywall mud, used glue fillers, molding and trim that are lengths under 3 feet, particle board as well as demolition material.

If you feel overwhelmed or don’t have the time, we’d be happy to consult with you and your crew on an environmentally focused waste management strategy and get you set up. We will also clean you out once you are ready to remove the construction waste from your site. Plus our team hand separates all recyclables as well as any reusable items from actual garbage. We also live load our trucks so we can efficiently dispose materials to the correct locations such as the landfill, recycling centers, as well as any suitable local non-profit organizations.