Have you ever been driving around in a new city or in a place with which you’re not quite familiar yet? For some reason whenever this happens to me I find myself locked in a light industrial network of shops, job sites and off-limits areas. 

And they’re almost always messy. 

Materials are cast aside, leaning against dirty building walls, old machines are left to collect dust and vehicles that have worn out their welcome dominate the shop front. 

Ask yourself: would this be an establishment in which you’d happily spend money?

Construction waste management is a real issue in North Vancouver and throughout the lower mainland. Here on the north shore where space is limited and the economy has tightened budgets in every corner of the construction industry, waste materials aren’t being disposed of properly. 

You Recycle At Home, Right?

Hopefully, since we’re living in 2016, recycling in your household is a day to day responsibility that doesn’t get questioned. Materials are separated and placed in the proper bin so they can be properly dealt with by your municipality. 

You realize you pay for that service, right? Willingly, we’d wager. 

So why are we reluctant to separate construction waste when we’re on the job? Have you ever stopped to question where it all goes? Construction waste can be a lot more harmful to the environment than your milk jugs and tuna cans. 

What Does Your Business Value?

Look, a lot of our customers don’t operate from a home base - their construction waste is created in the field. That’s why, if your business believes in making a good impression on the public, it’s crucial to keep your site organized and environmentally safe. Since you’re at work building our society, it stands to reason that you would believe in building a society that’s going to last far after you’re gone. 

All it takes is a little education. We’re focused on construction waste management here at Perimeter because a little goes a long way. Once one company commits to cleaning up properly, others will follow suit. 

For the customers with whom we’ve already worked to separate materials into our bins, good job! It’s a start, but the construction industry has a ways to go. 

What Does Construction Waste Look Like?

If you work in the construction industry, chances are you know what materials your operation is using and then discarding. If you’re not sure, well, here’s a quick list of some of the waste we help you organize and take away:

• drywall
• wood
• plastics
• cardboard
• metal
• insulation
• rebar
• nails

We believe the construction industry should be treating its leftovers the same way we’d treat recyclables in our home. Recycling at home wasn’t common until relatively recently either, so there are a lot of companies out there that simply don’t know what they can recycle, or they haven’t invested in it quite yet. 

And sure, it’s an investment. It costs a bit to bring bins of different sizes to your site, but then you don’t have to worry about it. Being aware of the waste path means your site is clean, the materials have been dealt with responsibly and your business can continue operating unimpeded by pesky junk lying around.