Removing renovation waste

By Alex Brooks

This story is a load of rubbish – how to make a cheap and environmentally friendly load of rubbish.

Have you seen the mess a renovation creates? Dust, rubble, broken tiles and often the kitchen sink. The easiest way to get rid of renovation rubbish is to simply order a skip bin. A truck will deliver a big metal bin and if you’re lucky, you have ordered the right size for your needs and the neighbours behave and refrain from throwing their own rubbish in your precious skip as you sleep. Skip bins are the most convenient way to remove large amounts of rubbish, but not all skips – or waste removal practices - are created equal.

Dump It Bins’ Matt Calleija says prices for skip bins and rubbish removal vary widely across Sydney, with some operators charging as little as $70 a tonne and others up to $180 a tonne. Levies and council policies have increased the cost of rubbish removal to encourage better recycling and waste management. “Anyone who hired a skip last year will be paying more money for it this year,” Calleija says.

Micron Constructions’ Michael Dolly says he estimates waste removal costs one per cent of the entire building cost. “A $100,000 renovation would cost $1000 for rubbish removal and $200,000 would cost $2000,” he says.

WSN Environmental Solutions – which used to be Waste Service NSW but is now a state-owned corporation that runs Sydney’s tips – doesn’t apologise for the increased charges, as they are designed to create more efficient waste management practices. WSN marketing and communications manager Catherine Johnson says it is cheaper and more environmentally friendly to separate renovation waste yourself rather than jumble it all into a skip bin or trailer and tip it into landfill.

Calleija says most skip bins are cheaper than removing rubbish yourself, as good skip bin companies do deals with each other and transfer stations to reduce costs. “Sure there are some companies out there using landfill, but you’d have to be pretty stupid. Recycling is the way to go – it’s cheaper,” he says.

These days, construction rubbish such as old roof tiles, bricks and concrete are crushed and turned into aggregate for landscaping. Old windows can be turned into insulation batts and metal is salvaged and scrapped. Unpainted timber can also be turned into garden mulch. Some items – such as old doors or floorboards – are salvaged and re-sold as second-hand building materials. Local councils now force renovators and builders to reduce the amount of rubbish they create by forcing them to adopt “waste management plans” as a condition of any building approvals.

Local Government Association president Genia McCaffery says in another five years time, it will be standard practice for construction and renovation rubbish to be re-used and handled in a safe, environmentally friendly manner.

Building certifier George Watts says the waste management plans – which require homeowners or builders to estimate the quantity of waste their renovation will generate and explain where they will tip it -- are hard to enforce.

“Really, it comes down to the home owner being conscientious and supervising the builder to make sure the waste is separated and handled in the best way possible,” Watts says. “The builder just wants to do whatever is quickest and easiest because they have to get on with the next job.”

SKIP TIPS

• The most efficient way to remove the rubble and mess from a renovation is to separate materials on your own property rather than jumble them up to send to landfill.
• It makes sense to separate waste. All metals – old taps, sinks, bathtubs – can be removed for free by a scrap metal dealer or tipped free at the local dump. Oh, and they aren’t called dumps anymore – they are “waste and resource centres” or “transfer stations” that may smell a bit.
• It can be cheaper to load up your own trailer or truck and take the rubbish to the dump, but only if it is waste that has low tipping frees. Green waste, for example is more affordable than general landfill, which is at around $120 a tonne.
• The heavier the rubbish you have to remove, the more cost-effective a skip bin will be. You pay for the air inside the skip, so it makes sense to load the skip as tightly as you can. Calleija says some people have a special knack for packing skips well, others don’t. Dolly says there is only one rule: “no holes in the load”.
• Check with your local council before you hire a skip bin. Many restrict the companies that operate in their local area. If you need to park the skip on a footpath or road, you will have to pay for a permit.
• General skip bins will not accept car tyres, asbestos or food and liquid. Some skip companies sort and separate the waste in their own yard before taking it off to be recycled, but some companies may still dump to dry land fill.
• Certain types of renovation waste – especially asbestos and synthetic fibres such as old fibreglass insulation batts or air-conditioning ducts – need special handling. These materials will often incur special handling fees and extra rates for disposal.
• If asbestos is mixed in with a load of general renovation rubbish, the entire load will have to be tipped at the higher rate and some companies will charge you a special re-loading fee.