An exploratory study is underway at Unitec to identify and quantify plastic waste streams, and their potential for recycling, from new-build construction. The study will inform a broader national study of the potential for diversion, of all materials, within the new-build and deconstruction sectors, including the economic implications of a range of models for construction waste processing with a medium-term goal to provide economic and sustainable alternatives to landfilling.
This study measures the waste product of the new build process, but does not measure the waste from construction demolition.
![](https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz/files/2020/02/Plastic_Pipes_Construction.jpg)
An example of the types of plastic pipes used in construction.
Approximately 80 kg of mixed plastic waste was generated from a residential development of 350m² floor area in Auckland