New construction waste as resource initiative

construction01-537x358I wanted to share this letter that I received yesterday about a project devoted to reducing waste in the construction and building industry, from the Construction Resource Initiatives Council. I don’t know a lot about this organization but the description of its goals certainly should be of interest to industry and also municipalities interested in diverting construction waste from disposal sites. Here’s the letter:

Dear industry colleagues 
Good news!
The Terms of References for the National Zero Waste Council – Construction and Building Working Group were approved and funds are forthcoming this summer for it and again in 2015. While the amount will to be nominal to start, I this as a milestone for the building industry as it will help to foster the spirit of collaboration and maximize the many efforts on change policies (existing, case studies and in development) for sustainable resource consumption, production, management and disposal.
Further, it is timely to raise badly needed awareness on the issue of waste, impacts and possible solutions, some of which are in development without little to no consideration for the following
  • An holistic industry change management plan
  • Consideration or understanding of all the related issues and potential unintended consequences
  • Alignment and collaboration between all stakeholders and regions
  • Importance of Type III EPDs and real time tracking for effective EPRs
  • A clear understanding of the complexity, risks and opportunities of resource recovery and management or greening the building material supply chain
This noted, I have received a great deal of positive feedback on the ‘Transformation Project’ concept and have therefore update it to reflect received comments.
I have also drafted a planning guide to help with coordination and invite you to mark the many important dates on your calendar, including the Request for Expression of Interest for Mission 2030 Partnership, which will be available very shortly. Please let me know if this is of interest to you or your organization.
Looking forward to working with your organization, I remain.
Yours truly
Renee L. Gratton, LEED® ap

Construction Resource Initiatives Council

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1609 Donald B Munro Drive,
Carp (Ottawa), Ontario, K0A 1L0, Canada
T.: 613-795-4632
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Director National Zero Waste Council