Bundaberg’s JRZ Homes is helping to build a circular economy and hopes to encourage other builders along the way as it aims to reduce its construction waste by 60%.
Owner Jesse Zielke has committed to diverting leftover building materials, including steel, cardboard and fibre cement, from landfill by either reusing or recycling the construction waste on site.
Jesse said he had been passionate about reducing waste for some time but was only recently provided the opportunity to follow through with his plans when he was contracted by Ingenia Lifestyle to construct the new over 50s lifestyle development.
“The construction industry can equate to up to 40% of all landfill collected; in Australia this accounts for 18% of Australia’s carbon footprint,” Jesse said.
“We are currently working on Ingenia Communities Over 50’s Lifestyle Development in Bargara, which comprises of 320 homes.
“It’s always been something I have wanted to do but have unfortunately never had a site big enough and a developer that was just as keen to see it pulled off.
“It’s quite a large site which has allowed us the ability to have multiple larger skip bins on the site, which can accommodate different types of waste.
“Within the construction zone we have smaller tip bins that are filled by the workers in the correct category of waste which is then tipped into the larger skips.”
Jesse said he believed it was important to reduce waste, in particular construction waste, to help provide a sustainable future for the generations to come.
“By recycling the products we are directly assisting with cutting those emissions in Australia, which obviously has a positive impact on the environment, an environment that we all enjoy particularly in our region and a reason why others are moving into the region and into these types of developments,” he said.
“The type of waste currently being recycled includes steel, concrete, cardboard, fibre cement and gyprock.
“We’re working with our suppliers on other products to recycle as we speak.
“We’re also utilising products in the build which use less waste.
“Our goal is to recycle at-least 60% of our waste on the site which we’re currently on track to achieve.”
Jesse said his ultimate goal would be to help initiate a construction waste sorting facility locally.
“The ultimate goal would be to have a facility locally that can sort through construction waste, as unfortunately on smaller sites there’s only enough room for single skip and recycle that waste as much as possible to reduce the amount that would end up in landfill,” he said.
“I’d love to work with others with a similar passion to achieve this.
“Hopefully I can inspire others and particularly those on larger sites, by getting the message out in multiple platforms and then allowing others to visit so we can show them how we are managing the process.
“Also having a great skip bin supplier on-board (Active Skip Bins) who are also looking at assisting other builders with some of their waste requirements.”
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Great initiative! I often walk past overflowing skip bins on a residential building site and I despair at the huge amounts of seemingly good materials that are sent to landfill. I hope your idea of a local construction site sorting facility gets implemented. I believe money from BRC’s environmental levy could help fund this facility and create jobs at the same time.