Stripout Waste Guidelines to improve resource recovery

The Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) has announced the launch of its Stripout Waste Guidelines, which are set to triple resource recovery from office spaces across Sydney.

The guidelines create a new best-practice standard for the procurement and management of contractor services for office defits to achieve a minimum of 60% resource recovery target during office strip-out and refurbishment. The current Sydney-wide average of fit-out waste diverted from landfill is just 21%.

“In the Sydney CBD, 400,000 m² of commercial office space is refitted every year, resulting in about 80% of fitout waste ending up in landfill annually,” said BBP Waste Technical Working Group Chair Jon Collinge.

“That’s about 25,000 tonnes of materials including glass, metals, plasterboard, ceiling tiles, carpet and loose furniture — most of which can be re-used or recycled.”

Collinge said that time and cost pressures have typically led to resources being lost to landfill rather than recovered; however, the new guidelines would help overcome these issues to improve resource recovery.

“The guidelines include a number of tools to help tenants increase resource recovery during the strip-out and fit-out process, outlining the principal requirements, timelines and reporting processes for consistent waste management systems and diversion,” Collinge said.

“Simple changes to contracting and on-site work procedures can support a markedly improved outcome and create downstream markets for resource recovery, moving the industry toward a circular economy that values all resources.”

Collinge will be hosting a masterclass on the new guidelines at this year’s Australasian Waste & Recycling Expo (AWRE), being held at the Sydney Showgrounds from 10–11 August 2016. He will be joined by Blake Lindley, sustainability consultant at Edge Environment, who will help him unpack the opportunities enabled by the implementation of the guidelines.

To download the BBP Stripout Waste Guidelines, visit http://www.betterbuildingspartnership.com.au/stripout. To book your AWRE seminar pass, visit http://www.awre.com.au/awre-wmaa-2016-seminar-program/.