Q: Just How Much Job Waste is Acceptable?
This is another in my series of open ended questions. They are meant to solicit thought and opinion; so please, you are encouraged to add a comment. Whether or not any are received, I will circle back within a week to provide some sort of relevant information.
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In my experience, there is always waste . . . and now that I think about it — with, well, everything. But despite my urge to begin a list, I will target this. And as I watch the piles of lumber, trim, etc. grow in my shed, I wonder what the current prevailing opinion is.
As project managers, we are wise to budget for and to buy extra, and sometimes it can not be helped. But in light of the practical limits of space as well as a recent movement towards being more efficient, I wonder just how much job scrap, waste, in general — excess is acceptable?
More Moxie:
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelanman/ / CC BY 2.0
At this point, I should have added a follow up (in the Comments section) for the post Why Does Acrylic Caulk Smell Like Bananas? Check it out!
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Why let the waste go to waste! I love it. Thanks for popping in Mike. Personally — when it comes to building materials — I usually stock pile in the hopes that I will have opportunity to use elsewhere. I realize, however, there will come a day when I will have to pursue one of the options you list — second hand stores, surplus centers and builder’s auctions may be other options. There is of course a second level to this — as a project planner, just how much overbuy is right (and I know that this is dictated by what you are buying and how it will be installed). You buy too little — and one miscut could bite you. . . buy too much and you spend time just jockeying excess material around. . . I have a tip related to this coming in a few days. thank you and BMoxie BMore.
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And speaking of wood — how exactly do you define scrap? I will admit it — I was doing some framing this last weekend — and pieces under 6 inches were too easily going to into the trash pail next to me. . . Maybe I should have kept it out in the hopes of finding one of Mike’s suggestions. At least wood is biodegradable (I have proof of this on my own house). Thanks for letting me ramble.
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jb,
This is an excellent question and one with no easy response. Maybe it’s best answered by saying “as little waste as possible and with a plan for the scraps”.
The photo in your post shows lumber scraps and they’re fairly easy to handle through future projects, recyclers or companies that turn scrap lumber into mulch, etc.
Many projects use a multitude of packaged products and many product producers today see the value in providing recycled/recyclable packaging and products in predetermined amounts to minimize the amount of waste created on the job. This helps, so being choosy about suppliers makes good sense.
Not all waste is avoidable…knowing that, many trades people and DIYers are now sorting wastes and habitually collecting them in bins of biodegradable, metallic, plastic, cardboard etc. Doing so makes it easy to keep the majority of waste out of the landfill and back to use through recycling and in the form of new products.
Why let the waste go to waste?
Thanks for the posting the question.