The Challenge of Construction Waste Disposal

Construction not only creates structures and buildings, but it also produces waste and debris - lots of it. And construction waste disposal is not only a concern for the individual contractor, but for local, state and national agencies, as well.

Construction Waste Disposal Is a Challenge for Contractors

Why is that? Because unlike most household and even other industrial waste, construction waste tends to take up far larger volumes of disposal space such as landfills. In addition, there is the ever constant concern over hazardous waste materials. According to an entry in Wikipedia:

"Construction waste consists of unwanted material produced directly or incidentally by the construction or industries. This includes building materials such as insulation, nails, electrical wiring, and rebar, as well as waste originating from site preparation such as dredging materials, tree stumps, and rubble. Construction waste may contain lead, asbestos, or other hazardous substances. Certain components of construction waste such as plasterboard are hazardous once land-filled. Plasterboard is broken down in landfill conditions releasing hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas."

How much waste do we actually produce?

Interestingly, the largest quantity of construction waste produced on an average home building site is made up of cardboard. Over a third of the accumulated debris and trash consists of it. The good news is that it is relatively lightweight and easily recyclable.

On the other hand, when the overall weight of each category of waste is considered, almost half of all the trash and debris produced in a typical residential construction site is made up of wood. This not only includes scrap and cut-offs, but wood from deconstruction as well as wood that was damaged or unusable after delivery.

Taking construction waste disposal to a new level

According the EPA as a nation we produce over 200 million tons of construction waste annually. However, many types of waste materials generated from housing construction can be reused, refurbished, or recycled into usable products.

Conscientious builders and contractors can develop strategies to salvage useful materials for re-use:

• Instead of creating a pile of mixed materials when renovating or building your home, consider separating and salvaging useful materials, including lumber, fixtures, hardware, and appliances.
• One way to do this for an existing home is through deconstruction, the systematic and careful removal of materials from structures for reuse or recycling.
• Outlets are available in many areas to collect or purchase used and salvaged building materials, and some nonprofit organizations also accept used building materials.

Or recycle - many construction waste materials can be recycled where the facilities to do so are available:

• Wood can be recycled into reclaimed or composite wood products such as furniture and plastic/wood-composite decks, as well as mulch and other products. (Note: wood from decks, roofing or other outdoor applications was likely treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA), a hazardous substance, and should be disposed, NOT reused, recycled or burned.)
• Asphalt, masonry, concrete, and rubble can be recycled into aggregate or new asphalt and concrete products.
• Metals, including steel, copper, and brass, are valuable commodities to recycle, especially in light of the current market for certain metals.

Recycling and re-purposing of construction waste makes a real difference. It is estimated that the area of landfill that is not needed because of recycling just construction waste is equivalent to over 4, 300 acres at a depth of 50 feet. That's over 3 billion square yards of landfill each year!

Your partners for meeting the challenge

Junk King provides an efficient, safe and eco-friendly construction waste disposal service so you don’t need to worry about the pick up or disposal of the debris after your project is complete. Whether you need our services several times during a construction project or just once after it is complete, our hauling professionals will ensure that the construction debris is out of your way so that you can get on with the job.

How can you get us on the site for construction debris disposal? You make an appointment simply by booking online above or by calling us at (707) 744-4254. Our professional and insured hauling team will call 15 minutes before we arrive on your site and we’ll give you a free estimate based on how much room your debris takes up in our truck. We haul the construction waste into our junk removal trucks and with no hidden fees.

Our team specializes in construction waste removal. We can be at your facility in mere minutes, so call us today! Our crew is fully insured and well-trained, so you can trust them to get rid of your unwanted items in a professional and courteous fashion. One of the best things about hiring Junk King is that we recycle a much of the material we pick-up. This is proof of our commitment to being an eco-friendly removal service. If you have questions about what we do or what we believe, give us a call at (707) 744-4254.