How do you reuse leftover scrap materials on the site?
Consider reusing materials on site to reduce your disposal efforts and costs. Some options to consider:
- Joist off-cuts - cut up and used as stakes for forming or for headers around openings in the floor assembly
- Leftover rigid insulation - used as ventilation baffles in attics or installed into house envelopes as joist header assemblies
- Pallets - return to the vendors
- Salvageable materials - can be given to an organization that will collect used construction materials and resell them
Potential Uses for Materials Commonly Found in C&D Debris
| Material | Potential Use |
| asphalt | road sub-base fill |
| concrete |
Crushed and mixed to make new asphalt cement blocks; crushed and screened aggregate can be used in asphaltic concrete |
| dirt | Landscaping landfill cover |
| metal | Scrap metal dealers |
| wood | Timber/wood pulp: shredded for fuel, animal bedding, landscaping, manufactured building products, and compost |
| brick | Masonry crushed for ornamental stone |
| glass | Fiberglass insulation, sand blast, aggregate in asphalt reflective beads |
| gypsum | Soil amendment, gypsum board, absorbent media |
| plastic |
ABS: plastic lumber PVC: highway barriers Polyethylene: traffic cones |
| polystyrene | Insulation |
| porcelain | Crushed for aggregate |
| corrugated cardboard | Paper mills, fuel pellets |
| carpet | Landfill cover |
| roofing shingles | Asphalt paving |
Aggregate recycling rates are greatest in urban areas where replacement of infrastructure is occurring, natural aggregate resources are limited, disposal costs are high or strict environmental regulations prevent disposal.
Factors affecting aggregate recycling:
- Product size
- Operational design
- Labor
- Feed source material characteristics
- Energy
- Infrastructure life
- Recycled product specifications
For more information:
