In Part 1 of our landfill diversion series we focused on where you can donate extra construction materials lying around your site. In Part 2 of our blog post we will focus on where you can recycle construction waste throughout the Lower Mainland and the Sea to Sky Corridor.
Did you know that we are passionate about landfill diversion as it’s the process that will keep the most amount of materials from ending up in our landfills? The success of this diversion can be measured by comparing the size of the landfill from one year to the next. Most municipalities and cities are dealing with the issue of where to expand their landfills to, or altogether start new landfills as the old ones are full.
With all the construction waste we haul from sites throughout the Lower Mainland and the Sea to Sky Corridor, it would be easy just to dump everything straight into the landfill and just head on to the next job. But that way of thinking doesn’t align with our values!
Our mission is to try and keep as much construction waste out of our local landfills as we can by recycling building materials such as:
Appliances, Tools and Hardware, Lumber, Light Fixtures, Lamps, Ceiling Fans, Drywall, Paint, and any type of packaging (plastic foam sheets, shrink wrap, plastic bags, styrofoam, and cardboard)
In the Sea to Sky Corridor; there are 2 main landfills, one is in Whistler and the other in Squamish. In Squamish, there is Carney’s Recycle Centre where you can take your cardboard, soft and hard plastics as well as glass to. Also, if you have a large amount of metal, our friends at Allied Salvage will recycle the metal for you and even pay you to get rid of it, it’s a win-win! They accept a large variety of ferrous and non ferrous metals including copper, brass, aluminum, stainless steel, tin and cast iron.
At the Squamish landfill, you can recycle your cardboard, metal, styrofoam and appliances inside the disposal area. Upon the entrance, there is an area completely dedicated to recycling including paint and also for plastics.
In Whistler, the transfer station has a HUGE recycling area inside where you can dispose your cardboard, drywall, metal and plastics as well as your appliances. Plus, the staff are very knowledgeable too. You can also take all your wood waste there which will end up getting mulched up for fuel.
In the Lower Mainland, it’s hard to dispose certain packaging foam sheets, poly vapor barrier as well shrink wrap as they don’t accept this at the transfer station recycling area so in this case we take it to WCS in North Vancouver. Here is a link to what they accept at their depot, there is a small fee to dispose this material but the service and knowing where it goes, is all worth it.
For larger amounts of cardboard, we like to work with Emterra, sometimes we have a full load of cardboard and dispose this large amount at their yard but you have to ask before you go in, they don’t let everyone in. They also have a couple of cardboard bins outside in which you can get rid of a larger amount rather than going to the North Vancouver Transfer recycling area.
The North Vancouver recycling area is great and the staff are very knowledgeable too. You can dispose your metal, paint, cardboard and your plastics (be mindful of what you recycle, they do accept hard plastic, only plastic bags.) It’s a one stop shop for free.
In North Vancouver, you can also get rid of your metals at North Shore Metal Recycling and in Vancouver you can recycle your metal at North Star Metal Recycling.
In Coquitlam, we recommend Happy Stan's which would be able to recycle construction materials such as cardboard, large appliances, plastics, scrap wood and pallets. Foam Only, also based in Coquitlam, accepts clean white expanded polystyrene. Other acceptable items include: White expanded polystyrene commonly called STYROFOAM™ brand foam, Coloured expanded EPS foam, #4 Polyethylene foam(Commonly used in computer packaging), #5 Polypropylene Foam.
In regards to drywall you can recycle it in New Westminster at New West Gypsum Recycling. We wrote a blog post about it in which you can read all about how it gets recycled and about the process on how we can haul away drywall for you.
Still feeling overwhelmed? Please download the BC Recyclepedia Smart Phone App! It has been such a helpful tool on our journey. It was developed by our friends at The Recycling Council of British Columbia (RCBC), in partnership with the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC), the free app is a quick and simple tool that helps users find over 1,000 drop-off locations and recycling options for over 70 materials or products across BC.
Lastly, we are members of The Recycling Council of British Columbia which facilitates the exchange of ideas and knowledge that enable efficient solutions to eliminate waste. It was founded in 1974, RCBC is Canada's longest serving recycling council, but it is about more than just recycling. RCBC works to prevent and reduce the use of resources before they ever need to be recycled. Their website is a wealth of knowledge and very easy to navigate, whenever you are unsure about something to recycle on your construction site, you can call them up through the Recycling Hotline or go on their website, or check on the Recyclepedia app.
We really recommended having our recycling stations on your site. Not only will these stations help streamline the recycling / sorting of your waste materials, it will also keep as much as possible out of your local landfill. The stations will also make tracking waste for a Green Built or LEED project waste diversion report more efficient. A Waste Diversion Report provides data on where your material went and how it was disposed which you can in turn share with your customers both in-person and online (website and social media).
At Sea to Sky Removal we are always ready with the education and tools to make recycling and greening your site easy, even second nature. A recycling station fits this bill perfectly and can be easily implemented at any point in a project, from the time the first crew is on-site to when the last person clocks out. The stations are also ideal for contractor yards / storage areas as we offer an on-going service on each client’s schedule.
We’d be happy to do all the recycling for you as well as dispose your actual garbage responsibly.