New Zealand’s construction and demolition sector generates around half of the country’s landfill waste each year. With the typical new home build producing around four tonnes of waste, change is urgent.
A collaboration led by 3R Group and Mitre 10 New Zealand has developed ‘Sustainability On-Site’, a new industry-led initiative to help residential builders reduce waste and adopt more sustainable practices through practical tools.
“Builders don’t need more complexity – they need solutions that work in the real world,” says Julie Roberts, head of sustainability at Mitre 10. “Sustainability On-Site is about making it easy to do the right thing with information that is effective and grounded in job site realities.”
The initiative includes short videos hosted by builder Chris Donnelly and apprentice Kiko Kuiti Topics include waste minimisation plans, sorting waste, and team engagement. The seven videos are also on YouTube.
3R Group brought together partners including Gibbons Naylor, BRANZ and NMIT. Nelson City and Tasman District Councils provided filming support.
“This is a sector-wide issue no one organisation can solve alone,” says Rosie Dawson-Hewes, sustainable futures analyst at 3R. “By collaborating across industry, education and government, we’re creating a unified approach built on easy-to-understand, technically accurate information.”
The initiative is already in use:
• NMIT is integrating the content into training.
• Gibbons Naylor is using the series in staff inductions.
• Mitre 10 and 3R are leading workshops at BuildNZ.
• Councils are supporting trials to refine the approach.
As well as environmental benefits, sustainable practices reduce waste-related costs – proving good practice can be good business.