Winning the waste war
10-04-2008 - Building Connection - Autumn 2008
The timber industry is taking steps to ensure a sustainable future, and responsibility lies with all levels, writes Ted Riddle. In recent years a lot of emphasis has been put on waste management at the builder level. For those involved in big developments, the opportunities are far greater.
Waste not, want not - it's an old adage that many of us in the building industry, lost track of sometime in the not so distant past. But with conservation and care for the environment now major social and political issues it's something that most of us are now very conscious of.
Waste is an unavoidable factor that, as society has grown and improved, we have adapted to and learned to live with - not all that satisfactorily, though. It has become more obvious in recent years that minimizing and managing waste can lead to better social and environmental outcomes.
The timber industry was one of the first to realize that by managing its production residue and reducing the amount of by-product that ended up as waste it could have a positive effect on the industry in terms of profitability and community relationships.
Don't get me wrong, the timber industry wasn't all that righteous in its approach to waste and many didn't start to see the practical implications of waste management until regulations imposed measures that affected the bottom line.
However, there were enough sawmillers dealing with communities encroaching on their space - and with the costs associated with air, noise and water pollution - that many lessons were learned and easily adopted across the industry.
Today the bulk of sawmill residue material, such as bark, wood chip and sawdust, is utilized in other sectors of the forest products industry, mainly paper or particleboard. Some goes into landscape and gardening products and some is used as fuel.
What then of downstream timber use and the waste generated by the consumer? There are various avenues of timber consumption. Industry uses large quantities in furniture and the packaging used for distribution and transport. Much goes into commercial and agricultural use, but most finds it way into the building sector.
At the industrial and commercial end most consumers are large-volume users and, like the sawmill industry, have the opportunity to tap into waste management and utilize offcuts, sawdust and shavings.
Builders don't have enough onsite timber waste to make it economical to participate in any of these opportunities. In most cases, it is generally mixed with other materials and the perceived cost of sorting far outweighs any potential benefit.
In recent years a lot of emphasis has been put on waste management at the builder level. For those involved in big projects such as new estates, project villages or medium and high-density re developments, the opportunities are far greater.
Keeping various waste materials separate is much simpler with shared facilities, costs are more manageable and the volume makes handling and transport to specific recycling and reuse destinations worthwhile.
It's the small builders - those doing alterations and additions, or even the one-off new house - that struggle with the economy of scale associated with waste and recycling. The feeling is that this is more of a desire to participate than being able to get involved.
In recent years a lot of resources have been developed to assist and train members of the building industry to appreciate how these outcomes can be achieved. The Housing Industry Association (with Green Smart) and Master Builders Australia (with Green Living) have environmental training Programs that include waste management as one of the primary subjects.
The Association of Building Sustainability Assessors has developed a specific training module on materials and waste that offers a much more detailed program on the subject.
As far as I am -aware all of these resources have been developed from the original base program developed by the Australian Greenhouse Office and some of the material can be researched at the Your Home website.
One of the fundamentals of waste management, and one of the basics included in all the training programs, is the need for a waste minimisation plan. MBA Victoria, m conjunction with the Victorian Government, has a 14-page guide called The Resource Efficient Builder. It gives a good rundown on how to develop your own waste minimisation plan along with six simple tips on how to work smarter, reduce waste and save money. You can get a PDF of this guide on the Victorian Government website.
As far as timber and associated products like paper and packaging are concerned, if you don't take into consideration the site preparation soil and screenings, it accounts for something like 20% of the construction site waste.
At this point little of this material, unless it is still in a reasonable size and length, is reused. However, this position is changing, and study conducted by the NSW Timber Development Association (TDA) in 2007 highlights several uses that are progressively coming on line and will inevitably consume the timber waste from the building sector.
We already see that a number of the particleboard manufacturers are taking back their main customers' waste, rechipping and putting it back into the manufacturing process.
Some of these manufactures are also working with the bigger waste disposal companies and are taking sorted clean timber waste - mostly offcuts, packaging crates and pallet timbers - and putting it through die chipping process to use it in die manufacture of particleboard.
This process is big business in Europe, where something like 14% of all particleboard is made from post-consumer waste. Several other materials are being considered that are commonly produced in North America and Europe. Products such as cement and wood fibre bonded bricks, which are already being locally made, as well as wood plastic composites will one day provide a range of materials made in Australia.
Landscaping and mulch products are big consumers of sawmill residue. But waste timber from building and packaging, along with salvage material that isn't suitable for recycling into reuseable products like flooring, furniture or joinery, is finding its way into post-consumer woodchip to supplement what comes from the sawmills.
Alternatively, one recycling processor, a company called Force 5 operating in NSW and Queensland, provides an onsitc service to builders. It will grind and mulch all the waste timber, plasterboard and paper into a landscaping ground cover that aids in the future development of gardens and the soil for grassed areas. This also keeps the site in good order during building and minimizes occupational health and safety risks.
Force 5 crushes other waste, like bricks and tiles, for use in the road base for driveways and paths. The company also recycles food. A range of other gardening and agricultural products have been developed from sawmill sawdust and shavings, which usually have a high moisture content. But new techniques for processing post-consumer waste, such as shredding and shaving, produce a much drier product more suitable in certain applications such as animal bedding and fuel heater pellets.
We obviously have a long way to go in Australia. Unless the building community gets into gear and starts to sort its waste and puts pressure on industry by making the reuseable resource readily available, then these options will be slow to materialise.
As these timber, reuse and 'end of life' facilities become more readily available, the handling, storage and movement of waste will become more economical. Costs will be reduced, making the onsite waste management plan a necessity rather than a chore.
For more information on outcomes of the TDA report Current Utilisation of Timber Waste and Recommendations for Future Uses, contact Stephen Mitchell of the National Timber Stewardship Group on 02 9279 2366 or email stephen.mitchell@tdansw.asn.au to discuss the details or have a copy sent. Ted Riddle has had 36 years' experience in the timber industry as a merchant, wholesaler and producer. He is a former marketing manager of the NSW Timber development Association and now runs his own contracting business, Building and Timber Services.
Building Connection - Autumn 2008