The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has released two new guidance documents to help the construction and demolition industry strengthen their procurement and contract processes around waste disposal.

To help the construction and demolition industry avoid engaging rogue waste operators, the EPA has published two documents that are designed to help procurement officers and construction project managers manage and dispose of their waste:

Construction and demolition waste: a management toolkit, and

Owner’s guide to lawful disposal of construction and demolition waste.

The documents provide step-by-step guides to help industry bolster their contracts with waste transporters, and factor in control measures from the beginning of the procurement process through to disposal.

EPA executive director waste operations Carmen Dwyer says the documents outline quick, easy-to-follow steps the industry can take to make sure they don’t get caught up in waste scams.

“We know that most people in this industry are keen to cut out unlawful behaviour, and the Toolkit and Guide provide steps that businesses can take to ensure their waste material is lawfully disposed of,” says Dwyer.

“Unlawful disposal can harm the environment, undercut the legitimate market and remove valuable recyclable resources from the economy.”

Accoridng to an article in The Conversation, in 2017, the building industry generated 20.4 million tons (MT) of waste such as for road and rail maintenance and land excavation. Typically, the waste from these activities include bricks, concrete, metal, timber, plasterboard, asphalt, rock and soil.

Between 2016 and 2017, more than 6.7MT of this waste went into landfills across Australia. The rest is either recycled, illegally dumped, reused, reprocessed or stockpiled.

More information at: https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/waste/industrial-waste/construction-demolition

Branko Miletic

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