Construction Waste Statistics

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Jason

Construction and demolition waste, also known as C&D waste, usually consists of heavy, bulky materials that can potentially cause harm to us and the environment if not disposed of correctly.

Recycling C & D materials helps to avoid this harm, and it conserves space in landfills. Often, even the smallest of materials can be converted into something useful. For example, Waste Management has provided this diagram for recycling construction materials.

Inerts > Road base

Clean wood > Mulch 

Crushed concrete > Gravel or New concrete

Dirt, rock and sand > Alternative Daily Cover (ADC) in landfills

Cardboard, paper, Plastics and metals > Converted into new goods

The following are some construction waste statistics provided by GreenWaste:

  • According to the National Association of Home Builders, a typical 2,200 sq.ft. home requires 13,000 board feet of framing lumber.

  • If laid end to end, that framing lumber would stretch 2.5 miles.

  • If all the dimensional lumber used to build the 1.2 million new homes constructed in the United State each year were laid end to end, it would extend 3 million miles, the equivalent of going to the moon and back six and a half times.

  • Home construction, remodeling and demolition projects are responsible for 25% to 30% of the nation’s annual municipal solid waste.

  • The Zanker landfill’s recycling facility processes C&D materials at the rate of 135 tons each hour.

We hope these statistics stay with you during your next construction project. We always encourage all of our clients to dispose of waste responsibly. After all, all of that waste is just causing problems long after your lifetime.

For more information about waste, check out our Landfill Facts blog post.