Green Star currently addresses waste minimisation in certain credits which incentivise projects to design, construct and operate in ways that promote waste management best practice. These credits are:
The relevant credits aim to encourage and reward management practices that minimise the amount of construction and demolition waste from base building and/or interior fitout works that is disposed to landfill.
To address this, the credit requires the use of waste contractors and waste processing facilities that have been independently verified for compliance with minimum standards of reporting. The use of such compliance standards and checks aims to ensure contractors and facilities operate with environmentally responsible due diligence on behalf of Green Star projects.
Waste contractors and waste processing facilities providing services to projects seeking Green Star certification must comply with the current version of the Green Star ‘Construction and demolition waste reporting criteria’.
Where waste contractors or waste processing facilities do not hold a ‘Compliance verification summary’ (as explained in the reporting criteria) they shall, at a minimum, disclose to the project team how much of the reporting criteria has been implemented. Under these circumstances the 'Disclosure statement' will be used instead of the ‘Compliance verification summary’ in the project submission for projects registered under Green Star - Design & As Built or Green Star - Interiors.
For projects, registered under Green Star Buildings, the Disclosure statements can only be used to demonstrate compliance with the Responsible Construction - Minimum Expectation. Project teams targeting the Responsible Construction - Credit Achievement must ensure that the processing facilities have a valid Compliance verification summary, and the waste contractors meet all the requirements of the construction.
The following Disclosure statements are available for project teams to issue to the respective service providers:
The Construction & demolition waste reporting criteria and Disclosure statements are available from the Resources portal.
In April 2012, the GBCA invited waste contractors, resource recovery facility operators, waste policy and regulatory specialists, waste auditors, and Green Star Accredited Professionals (GSAPs) experienced in applying the Waste Management credit, to participate in the Green Star Construction and Waste Reference Group (CDWRG). The CDWRG was responsible for providing expert advice and contributing to the development of a discussion paper, Construction and Demolition Waste Management in Green Star, which sought wider industry feedback on the development of the Green Star Construction and Demolition Waste credit. The CDWRG provided feedback on the draft discussion paper ahead of its public release in 2013. The CDWRG included representatives from 46 organisations, including 24 GBCA member companies. Effort was taken by the GBCA to involve participants from all Australian states and territories. A list of the CDWRG representatives is available here.