Tracking waste

Tracking construction waste can help you reduce its generation, improve its disposal, and increase its reuse and recycling. We outline four actions to assist with tracking your waste:

1. Undertake waste audits
2. Record your waste
3. Label your waste
4. Record where your waste goes offsite

Action 1: Undertake waste audits

The person responsible for site waste and resource recovery has the important task of keeping track of how much waste is in each bin, noting down how much was recycled or reused, and keeping track of the costs for removing both general and recyclable wastes. Using waste audits can help keep track of waste onsite.

A waste audit is a systematic process of measuring and accounting the types, quantities, and sources of waste generated within your construction project. It is very important to keep track of your efforts to reduce the amount of material wastes (both landfilled and recycled) you produce.

Waste audits can help you identify the waste streams, the causes of waste, and the opportunities for waste reduction and diversion. A waste audit can be conducted at different stages of the project, such as during design, procurement, construction, and demolition. A waste audit can help you set or adjust waste reduction goals, monitor waste performance, and evaluate waste management strategies.

For more comprehensive guidance on measuring and analysing construction waste, use the Guide for construction waste audits (PDF). Although written in 1999, it still provides useful information. The Ministry for the Environment and WasteMINZ also provide waste auditing guidance (currently under review), and other guidance on auditing waste is increasingly available online.

Action 2: Record your waste

Use the REBRI Waste minimisation plan to maintain records of materials salvaged, recycled, or otherwise disposed of including amounts and destinations.

Aim to set up a system to document transfer of the materials from the building site and their destination. Keeping invoices and receipts for all salvage and recycled materials is a good idea.

Keeping a record of your waste is important, especially for Homestar and Greenstar construction projects.

The REBRI forms can help you comply with the waste regulations, report on the waste outcomes, and improve the waste accountability.

Action 3: Label your waste

To assist with documenting your waste, use methods that identify the type, quantity, and origin of the waste contained in a bin or bag, such as a tag or sticker. It can help you sort and separate waste materials, and prevent cross contamination. A waste label could make use of different colours or symbols, depending on the waste classification system adopted by the project. By labelling your waste you can help facilitate the waste collection, optimise the waste storage, and simplify the documentation process.

Action 4: Taking your waste offsite

To help manage your waste you will have to document where it goes. Transporting waste offsite often requires more than one contractor collecting waste from site - usually a mix of waste collectors and resource recovery firms.

The longer the transport distance, the more costly the service but also the more potential environmental impact because of fossil fuel use and traffic congestion.

Try to:

• use the BRANZ Resource recovery map to identify local destinations for recycling, reuse and product drop off schemes.
• use destinations that provide a paying backload such as aggregate, mulch or building supplies.

Make sure materials are transported in suitable secure containers or bins to avoid littering and to prevent leakage or traffic accidents.

The driver of the vehicle should ensure the load is within the safe working legal limit before leaving the site. Vehicles should be registered and currently certified as roadworthy.

You may need to prepare a vehicle movement plan and risk assessment for the safe movement of heavy vehicles into and out of the site, including selection of route.

Use the REBRI waste transfer form to record the waste generated, the waste source and type (recyclables, reusable materials, and waste for disposal), the waste transporter, the waste recipient and where the waste will end up.

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Updated: 5 May 2025