On-site recycling for building waste

Plant recycling 95% waste at housing development

Village Building Co (VBC) has been recognised by the ACT Commissioner of Sustainability and the Environment for taking the initiative to set up its own recycling plant to manage building waste on its Brindabella at Macgregor site for all of VBC’s housing developments.

The Commissioner, Dr Maxine Cooper, praised the local Canberra company for establishing the plant, which will allow it to recycle 95% of all waste from its building sites.

The recycling plant will allow VBC to deliver quality affordable homes in a more sustainable manner, with no additional costs to the end buyer.

VBC is environmentally conscious and has been recognised by a number of prestigious awards including the 2009 National HIA Boral Greensmart Awards ‘Resource Efficiency Award’.

In 2007, VBC management decided that the company would spend $350,000 on equipment and $240,000 per annum on running costs to set up their own recycling plant and recycle the waste created by its housing construction activities, using three full-time staff.

The plant recycles a wide range of construction materials including masonry (bricks, concrete, tiles), timber, plasterboard, metal, hard plastics, cardboard and polystyrene.

The recycled material is re-used in VBC developments:

• Masonry is used as base course under driveways and paths as well as granular backfill behind retaining walls
• Chipped timber becomes mulch in landscape areas
• Crushed plasterboard is used for soil improvement of the clay soils
• Metals are sold to a scrap metal merchant
• Paper, cardboard and hard plastics are delivered to recycling yards in Mitchell and Belconnen
• Polystyrene is collected and goes back to the waffle pod manufacturers for crushing and re-use in new waffle pods which are used for construction of concrete slabs

“Environmental initiatives and sustainable practices are important parts of how we conduct our business,” Winnel said.

“We have incorporated recycling into development processes for several years.

“There is no government regulation requiring us to have such a facility. We have built the plant because of the positive impacts it will have on the environment by allowing us to minimise landfill and energy consumption in carting waste.”

The Village Building Co Ltd

www.villagebuilding.com.au