Reducing construction waste is good for the planet and can save your company a lot of money, too. Recycling can be dropped off at City of Calgary landfills at much lower rates than other waste, and when you’re working on a big construction site, it can have a major financial impact on the life of a project.

But it’s vital that waste and recycling be properly separated before it’s brought to the landfill, and that’s where working with a LEED-certified company like FenceLine Rentals Ltd. can help you build the right recycling plan for your construction site. With bins and haul-away services offered, as well, we can help your company reduce waste and increase recycling.

But what can and cannot be recycled on construction sites in Calgary? Let’s break it down.

What Construction Waste Can Be Recycled?

Rows of rusted metal pipe construction waste ready to be recycled.

The City of Calgary offers a Know Before You Throw search tool that allows businesses to check what can be disposed of and where it can be dropped off, and it’s worthwhile to check about any items you might have questions about.

Important note: According to the City of Calgary, 41% of recyclable construction and demolition materials still end up in city landfills. If your vehicle is selected for a random selection and it’s found that there are readily recyclable materials, you could be charged a higher rate of $180 per tonne. That’s more than double the cost of recycling drop-offs.

Drywall

  • Disposal rate: $90 per tonne.
  • Wet, painted, or vinyl-covered wallboards are accepted, as well as exterior-grade wallboards.
  • Gypsum wallboards have to have less than 2%, by weight, of garbage, wood, metal, and other contaminants.

Recyclable Wood

  • Disposal rate: $90/tonne
  • This includes untreated dimensional lumber, used pallets, and other wood items made from raw and unprocessed wood.

Scrap Metal

  • Disposal rate: $113/tonne
  • This includes construction, demolition, and renovation-related scrap metal up to four feet.

What Construction Waste Cannot Be Recycled?

A heap of construction waste that cannot be recycled.

Knowing what can be recycled is most important, as it allows businesses to separate those materials from the rest of the waste on their construction sites. But understanding what cannot be recycled is still an important way to keep things organized on your job site when it comes time to dispose of waste, too.

Garbage

  • Disposal rate: $113/tonne
  • The City of Calgary officially calls this “Basic Sanitary Waste,” and it includes many common items, such as lumber from old fences and desks, ceiling tiles, shingles, vinyl siding, mirrors and windows, and PVC piping.

Industrial Waste

  • Disposal rate: $170/tonne
  • Industrial waste can only be disposed of at the Shepard landfill facility, and it often requires a permit, with applications available online.
  • Treated wood, fluorescent light tubes, oily solid waste including rags, absorbent materials and filters with chemicals, and empty containers and drums are all considered industrial waste.

Non-Recyclable Materials

The City of Calgary’s website specifies that road asphalt, brick, masonry brick, and concrete recycling are not available in its landfills.

These are common materials around a construction site, and FenceLine Rentals Ltd. can help provide solutions for separating and disposing of all of them, but if they are mixed in with other loads, the Disposal Surcharge Rate kicks in with a $180 per tonne charge. 

Get Help with Construction Waste Management

A large waste bin on a grassy field near a construction site in Calgary.

As you can see from the prices for disposal, reducing construction waste through recycling can be a big money-saver, as well as being good for the environment.

FenceLine Rentals Ltd. offers waste management services that will simplify your efforts to responsibly reduce your construction waste in a number of important ways.

Bin Rentals

Waste management on construction sites must be clean, safe, and secure, and we have the highest-quality waste bins available for rent. They can be used with compactors to maximize efficiency.

  • Roll-Off Garbage Bins: Roll-off garbage bins have a high weight capacity and are extremely effective for managing large quantities of waste. They’re strong, versatile, and can be used for long-term waste management or short-term construction and demolition jobs. We have 5 sizes available.
  • Self-Dumping Tipping Hopper: FenceLine’s rentals are designed to make moving construction waste easy and affordable and are available in three and four-yard models.
  • Garbage Totes: We also have garbage totes available for smaller loads.

Recycling Services

With our LEED certification, we show our commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. LEED is an abbreviation for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and the certification demonstrates a commitment to sustainability in Canada

FenceLine has a proven track record of helping construction companies meet their own waste diversion and recycling goals in a few key ways.

  • Program Review and Design: Even before your construction job starts, our experienced team can help your company build and design a diversion program that takes into account your goals, the space that’s available, and the resources that are needed to successfully implement a recycling program.
  • Hauling Services: FenceLine has all the bins you’ll need to separate your recycling from other construction waste available for rent. Having the right construction waste container rentals is an important first step, and we can also do the hauling for your project.
  • Reporting: FenceLine will provide a report and submit data to your team monthly.

Meet Your Recycling Goals with Fenceline Rentals Ltd.

At Fenceline Rentals Ltd., we understand that diverting waste and increasing recycling is a goal almost every construction company wants to achieve. It’s good for the environment and can have a real impact on the bottom line when you consider how much less it costs to drop off recycling than the alternative.

Our experience in construction waste management means our team can help build a recycling plan for your job site that is efficient and sustainable and doesn’t get in the way of the rest of the work that needs to be done. We provide bin rentals and hauling, and our LEED certification proves our commitment to sustainability.

For more information about how we can help your company meet its recycling goals, call us at 587-864-5607 in Calgary or 782-825-5737 in Edmonton or fill out our contact form, and we’ll be in touch with you shortly.