Large Scale Refurbishment: How to manage your waste

The best place to start when it comes to managing the waste on your large-scale refurbishment site is to create a waste management plan. Look at every aspect of the refurbishment when you do this. You’ll need to identify the possible waste streams you’ll generate as well as how much of each waste stream you’ll create. Cover everything from construction debris and packaging waste to the food waste from staff members.

Create a plan for the methods of recycling and disposal you’ll choose for anything that you can’t reuse or recover. By planning ahead, you’ll reduce the amount of waste you generate and ensure as little goes to landfill as possible.

Before you start looking at recycling and recovery options, you should always look for ways to reduce the amount of waste you’re producing or reuse items. According to the waste hierarchy, recycling and recovery routes should always be the last option when it comes to managing your waste. Preventing that waste from being appearing in the first place is always a more sustainable option. Our resources are limited so you’ll need to be mindful of every material used during your refurbishment. Does everything need to go, or can you reuse some items and materials?

One of the most environmentally friendly things you can do when planning a large-scale refurbishment is to look for the most sustainable materials. Can you choose recycled materials for some items? But it’s not just choosing recycled materials, it’s about making sure your waste materials are recycled too. Making sure all your waste goes to recycling, helps to close the loop and create a circular economy. According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), 3.3 million tonnes of CO2 could be saved every year in the UK if we reused construction materials that are currently treated as waste and non-recyclable. Ensuring that all your waste goes to recycling not only protects limited resources but boosts your environmental credibility too.

Before your large-scale refurbishment begins, take a look at everything you have on site already. If it’s no longer needed after the refurbishment but still in good condition, could you donate it to your local charity shop or community group? Or you could put it on a local selling site to generate a bit of extra revenue? You might not need the furniture or items anymore, but there may be someone who is looking for that exact piece. You can do a bit of good in the community and divert the amount of waste from your refurbishment that could end up in landfill. This is a great way to make your refurbishment even more sustainable.

Implementing a recycling scheme on your refurbishment site is a great way to manage the waste created by staff and the refurbishment process. Make sure you have enough recycling bins so everyone on your site has a place for their used materials to go. Make sure there’s staff training in place so they know to sort their waste into the appropriate bins. This means that only the right materials go in the right bin, reducing the risk of any contamination of recyclable materials. The more you can recycle, the less goes to landfill, minimising the environmental impact of your large scale refurbishment site.