Guide for Identifying, Evaluating and Selecting Policies for Influencing Construction, Renovation and Demolition Waste Management
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GUIDE FOR IDENTIFYING, EVALUATING AND SELECTING POLICIES FOR INFLUENCING CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION AND DEMOLITION WASTE MANAGEMENT PN 1597 ISBN 978-1-77202-054-0 PDF © Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, 2019 NOTE TO READER This guide is based on an unpublished report prepared under contract to CCME by Brantwood Consulting Ltd. and has been revised and edited by the Construction, Renovation and Demolition Waste Project Team of CCME’s Waste Reduction and Recovery Committee. i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) wastes make up one of the largest solid waste streams in Canada. This waste comes at a significant cost: it is expensive to manage, poses risks to human health and the environment, and represents a missed opportunity to recover value from discarded materials. Consequently, there are strong social, economic and ecological imperatives to both reduce the rate of CRD waste generation and increase the quantities diverted from disposal. This guide provides decision-makers with high-level guidance for identifying, evaluating and selecting effective policies for influencing CRD waste management. This includes reducing the amount of waste generated by CRD activities, decreasing the amount of CRD waste that is disposed, lessening the environmental impacts of the CRD waste that is disposed, and strengthening the markets for, and value of, diverted CRD materials. Key Steps in CRD Waste Policy Development Reducing the amount of CRD waste heading to landfill is a complicated task, and there is no single policy that can address the issue on its own. CRD waste reduction and diversion requires a comprehensive approach. Successful jurisdictions use a combination of policies that are tailored to their unique regional political, economic and market conditions. Policymakers can leverage a three-step process for evaluating CRD waste management policies: 1. Assess: The starting point is to assess the regional context to determine the current state of CRD waste management and identify the materials and systems with the greatest potential for reduction or diversion. 2. Prioritize: The second step is to establish a set of goals and select a short list of strategies and policy measures that are most closely aligned with the regional priorities, needs and context. This may include setting diversion targets and identifying priority materials, construction life-cycle stages and actors for action. 3. Evaluate: The final step is to assess the potential benefits and impacts of each policy and decide on a path forward. ii CRD Waste management policy evaluation process Overview of Construction, Renovation and Demolition Waste in Canada Although CRD wastes may consist of similar materials, the quantities and waste stream composition may vary significantly depending on the region and the time of year, and this has significant implications for waste management. Guy Perry and Associates and Keller Environmental (2015) divide CRD waste into three streams: • Construction waste refers to wastes that are derived from the process of building new structures, excluding large civil and public infrastructure projects (dams, bridges, etc.), marine pilings, telephone, rail, land clearing and so on. • Renovation waste is generally a hybrid of construction waste and demolition waste and is derived from undertaking improvements and repairs to existing structures, excluding large civil and public infrastructure projects (dams, bridges, etc.), marine pilings, telephone, rail, land clearing and so on. • Demolition waste refers to wastes and material debris that are derived from the process of demolishing existing structures. Demolition activities tend to produce mixed waste that is challenging to separate into different materials for reuse or recycling. CRD waste is made up of many different types of materials and products. The most prevalent materials by weight are wood (clean, engineered, treated and painted), asphalt roofing and drywall. Other materials include metals, plastics, concrete, asphalt paving, bricks, glass, cardboard, and a host of other materials found in relatively small quantities such as ceiling tiles, equipment, furniture and paint. iii Waste diversion is the process of diverting waste from landfills or incinerators through various means such as reuse, recycling, composting or gas production through anaerobic digestion. From a diversion perspective, CRD waste materials are categorized by ease of diversion as high value, simple to divert, complex to divert and limited options. Categories of construction, renovation and demolition waste materials organized by ease of diversion iv Policy Options for Construction, Renovation and Demolition Waste Reduction and Diversion This guide presents six broad strategies and 14 policies that can influence CRD waste management. These strategies and associated policies are not presented in any order of priority, effectiveness or preference. Strategy Associated CRD waste management policies A. Create accountability Make specific actors (e.g., producers, builders, facilities) more for waste diversion accountable for reducing and diverting CRD waste. Policies: 1. Waste management plans and processes for facilities and projects 2. Producer responsibility programs B. Limit disposal options Limit where, how or what materials can be disposed of. Policies: 3. Waste disposal bans, limits and surcharges 4. Transportation requirements and restrictions C. Align financial Use levies, fees and charges to encourage waste reduction and diversion. incentives Policies: 5. Disposal fees and levies 6. Virgin material levies D. Improve CRD Increase the resource efficiency of CRD activities. Policies: processes 7. Building codes and requirements 8. Green building certification 9. Environmental product standards and labels 10. Deconstruction standards E. Strengthen diversion Increase the supply and demand of diverted materials by designing out markets and waste and requiring proper end-of-life management when purchasing infrastructure products and waste services. Policies: 11. Support infrastructure and market development 12. Public procurement F. Build knowledge and Increase the capacity and knowledge of key stakeholders and establish establish systems whereby progress can be tracked over time. Policies: accountability 13. Industry outreach, education and resources measures 14. Benchmark and track data Managing Common Construction, Renovation and Demolition Waste Materials The most common CRD waste materials in most regions of Canada are wood (clean, engineered, painted, treated), asphalt roofing and drywall. The table below outlines some of the policy approaches that may be evaluated to reduce and divert these materials. Waste material Overview Policies 1. Clean wood Clean wood (also known as white wood) is not treated with • CRD waste bans, waste chemicals (e.g., for pressure treatment), paint or other limits and coatings. It includes solid wood, lumber, and pallets that surcharges are unpainted, unstained, untreated and free of glue. • Deconstruction standards Although there are many uses for clean wood waste, the • Strengthened challenge can sometimes be in creating functional and infrastructure and v Waste material Overview Policies economically sustainable markets given the variability and markets seasonality of supply. The presence and maturity of markets for clean wood waste varies across the country. Addressing the large amounts of clean wood waste that are generated from new construction, renovation and demolition requires a change in business approach. Currently, large volumes of CRD wood waste cannot be diverted because it is commingled with other materials and contaminants or is in such poor condition that the cost of processing and cleaning limits the economic viability of processing and reusing the material. 2. Engineered Engineered (composite) wood refers to manufactured • CRD waste wood waste plywood, particleboard, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), disposal bans and oriented strand board (OSB), veneers, glulam beams, and surcharges so on, which may include nails, metal plates, glues and • Deconstruction other chemicals. Significant quantities are generated from standards new construction, renovation and demolition. • Strengthened infrastructure and The markets for engineered wood are mostly similar to markets clean wood. As the diversion process and end-user markets for engineered wood are similar to clean wood, the policy goals and priorities are also similar. Therefore, the policy approaches provided for clean wood waste above may also be applied to engineered wood. 3. Painted wood Painted wood contains a coating (e.g., paint, varnish, • Transportation waste sealer, stain) applied onto or impregnated into clean, requirements and engineered or treated wood. It includes trim, doors, restrictions cabinets, flooring, some siding, balustrades and • Investment in baseboards. research to develop new Market options depend on the coating. Some painted wood processing may contain hazardous or toxic substances and, because technologies and it may be difficult to test the type of paint, it is usually not infrastructure possible to divert from landfill. Painted wood recycling and reuse markets also depend on the wood substrate (i.e., clean, engineered, treated). Because painted wood is so difficult to divert, alternative upstream solutions may be considered to reduce the volumes of waste generated. 4. Treated wood Treated wood refers to wood that is pressure treated or • Disposal fees and