Waste
An effective waste management plan is vital for planning and operating a sustainable office building - right from the initial stages of a fit-out or refurbishment. Much of the advice in the Getting Started section relates to effective waste reduction, including materials reuse and recycling.
- On the construction site:
- ensure sub-contractors sign up to your policy of reducing waste, recycling and 'measure twice and cut once'
- have recycling bins on site during construction
- Ask suppliers to avoid unnecessary packaging and take back reusable and recyclable packaging
- whenever possible, design for and use prefabricated building materials
- ensure building materials are sorted and stacked, and offcuts saved for later use
- In the building:
- design the fit-out for the material sizes to minimise waste
- design easily accessible areas for recycling bins inside and outside the building
- build recycling facilities into cabinetry, it looks good and makes for ease of use.
- re-use materials from previous buildings such as interior fittings and fixtures
- use materials with recycled content
- specify and use materials that are recyclable at end of life.
Useful resources and information
- The Sustainable Business Network for case studies, resources and advice on planning waste minimisation
- Resource Efficiency in Building and Related Industries: Your guide to reducing building material wastes
- A Guide to Implementing Recycling Systems in Multi-Tenanted Office Buildings
- Waitakere City Council's Better Building Code Section 4 (PDF 25 KB) covers building waste
Case study: waste
The Ministry found it difficult to insist on waste recycling and minimisation during construction. Specific advice has since been developed to make it easier to encourage construction teams in this area. See the REBRI website for further information.
Fit-out waste was minimised by reusing materials as much as possible.
Waste-reduction systems have been integrated into the fit-out and operating arrangements. Staff do not have rubbish bins at their desks. Each person has a small (10cm x 10cm) box sitting on the desk for any non-recyclable rubbish. Paper goes into paper containers under desks, and then into recycling bins on each floor.
Food scraps are put into bags in recycling drawers in each floor's kitchen, and bottles and tins go into adjacent recycling bins. From there they are taken by cleaning staff to the basement, where there is also a large container for cardboard. Extensive consultation with the cleaning company was carried out to ensure cleaners understood what was required to operate the system. The organic waste bin is emptied once a week by a contractor who delivers to Living Earth (a compost manufacturer).
