Your Renovation Can Earn LEED Points. Here’s How.

From demolition debris to daily job-site waste, smart diversion is part of the LEED Materials & Resources credit — and it’s easier than you think.

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INFORMATION ABOUT LEED

What is LEED?

(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) LEED is for all building types and all building phases, including new construction, interior fit outs, operations & maintenance, and core & shell. When a waste load is processed as a LEED load, a report will show how much of each material was recovered for recycling. LEED reports are provided for a small fee of just $50 from the recycling landfill, where waste is separated and recycled using the material recycling facility (MRF). Trash Gordon has 0 markup on these reports, as we would instead encourage this process than make any profit from it.

Drywall

Drywall being dumped at general landfills has been long-linked with many environmental problems, such as the generation of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide. Hydrogen sulfide is a flammable and extremely hazardous gas that can cause eye, nose, throat, and respiratory issues. Sulfur dioxide is one of the main contributors to acid rain, which results in a negative impact on the environment.

Did you know?

Drywall that can’t be reused by manufacturers can also be used as soil enhancement! Awesome, right? Instead of it taking up space at a landfill and creating toxic gases, we can take it to the correct facilities where it will be cleaned, sorted, and used to have entirely positive uses for our environment. MRFs can recycle 90% of stockpiled drywall material.

Metal

When it comes to recycling scrap metal, the list of benefits for the environment and the economy runs long: benefits in energy conservation, conservation of natural resources; greenhouse gas emission reduction; and positively impacting the Canadian economy. Recycling steel uses 74% less energy than producing new steel from raw materials. 100% of the metals that we take to MRFs will be recycled.

Wood & Cardboard

The first and most important benefit of recycling wood, paper, and cardboard is saving trees. Even after replanting trees to make up for the ones that have been cut down, trees take a too long time to reach maturity: this means that the less we cut down in the first place, the better. Wood recycling also helps reduce our environmental impact by preventing less trash from ending up in the landfills, which in turn reduces air and water pollution. Wood recycling is an ideal technique for ensuring that the environment is maintained in its natural state. Furthermore, wood recycling continues to provide new opportunities that keep up with changing customer demand for recycled products, including the rapidly expanding avenue of renewable power in the form of biofuel. The cardboard that we bring to the MRFs are mechanically separated, baled, then transported to brokers and mills to be recycled into new cardboard. MRFs are able to recycle 95% of the wood and cardboard that is brought in.

Plastics

Even though plastics are relatively uncommon in C&D waste, it is essential that the quantities that are found are recycled. Plastics that we take to MRFs are processed into three grades, with hard materials (including PET type) going to plastic specific recyclers. Film plastic is collected into two grades: clear/opaque and colored. C&D film plastic has multiple outlets: single-stream recycler for combination with the single stream recycled materials, or to a plastics specific reformer/recycler. Specific outlets follow commodity market pricing. 95% of the plastics that we take to MRFs can be recycled.

WHY RECYCLING STILL MATTERS

Awareness of recycling has improved in recent years, but not enough.

In 2007, the City of Calgary approved a waste diversion strategy to divert 80 percent of landfill waste by 2020. This vision was intended for all construction sectors, including Single Family (SF), Multi-Family (MF), Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (ICI), and Construction & Demolition (C&D).
Sadly, the last waste audit conducted in Calgary, completed in 2014 - indicates only a 20-30 percent recovery rate: a massive difference from the original 80 percent. In 2015, the city council revised its overall target to 70 percent waste diversion by 2025.
For the C&D sector expressly, the city council set a revised target of only 40 percent, which is just half of the original goal.

Today

Calgary recycles only 20-30 percent of its C&D waste and allows the private sector to choose its own waste disposal programs. This means that there are no obligations for contractors to uphold even the current 40% target nor report their waste disposal strategies.
Ultimately, recycling is merely a choice: a sorely neglected choice too often in an industry lacking accountability.

These are some sad statistics. If you choose Trash Gordon to remove your C&D waste, we guarantee that we will take ALL of your waste to a recycling facility because we care to make a difference!

How Waste Diversion Earns LEED Points

Under LEED’s Materials & Resources category, projects can earn credit for diverting construction and demolition waste from the landfill instead of sending it straight to disposal. Depending on how your project documents its diversion, reaching a 50% diversion rate can earn 1 point, and 75% can earn up to 2 points.

You don’t need to sort anything on site. Load your Trash Gordon bin with any construction material: drywall, metal, wood, cardboard, plastics, concrete, and more; and it’s hauled to a facility that sorts and diverts recyclable material before it ever reaches the landfill. The facility provides a material-by-material diversion certificate, which we can pass along to support your LEED submittal.

Does renting a bin from Trash Gordon help earn LEED points?

Yes, your material is hauled to a facility that sorts and diverts it rather than sending everything straight to landfill, and we can provide diversion documentation for your LEED paperwork on request.

Do I need to sort my waste on site?
No. Load the bin with any type of construction material and the sorting happens at the receiving facility.
What diversion rate do I need for LEED credit?
Most projects earn 1 point at a 50% diversion rate and up to 2 points at 75%. Check with your LEED consultant on which threshold applies to your project.
Can you provide documentation for my LEED submittal?

Yes, the landfill provides a material-by-material diversion certificate, and we can pass that along to support your LEED submittal.