Taking care of our environment is a duty.
Law 7/2022 of April 8 on Waste and Contaminated Soils, which regulates waste management, classifies as a very serious infraction the abandonment, dumping and uncontrolled disposal of waste, including those produced as a result of carrying out minor works.
Waste management in minor works is an important process to protect the environment and public health. Minor works, such as building or repairing a home, can generate a large amount of waste, such as debris, wood, plastics and metals.
Planning the management of the waste that a project can generate entails detecting the type of waste that can be generated and the needs that must be covered for its treatment, thus it must be separated into different fractions, such as dangerous, recyclable, inert, and these if necessary in a new classification, as for example can happen with recyclable waste, separating paper and cardboard, plastics, wood and metals.
The infractions contemplated in this law can reach up to 3.5 million euros, when they involve dangerous waste that has put people’s health at risk or caused damage to the environment.
Waste management in minor works is the responsibility of all those involved in the work, thus both owners, contractors and workers must work together to guarantee adequate waste management, it being important to document the management carried out to comply with existing environmental regulations, indicating the types of waste generated, the quantities, and the way in which they were managed.
Minor works are considered those of construction or repair that do not affect the structure of the buildings or require a technical project. They are works of little constructive and economic complexity such as interior renovations, waterproofing, painting, changing carpentry, façade repairs, among others.
As the owner, you have the obligation to correctly manage the waste generated by these works so as not to contaminate the environment, therefore you must classify them by type – debris, wood, metals, paper, cardboard, plastics – and deposit them in specific containers provided by the service. municipal cleaning or by companies specialized in waste treatment, for subsequent recycling and elimination, or failing that, transporting them directly by their own means or by those of the company that carries out said work, if applicable, to a treatment facility. authorized as a clean point, controlled landfill or recycling plant.
Abandonment of waste on public roads or on private land constitutes an administrative offense punishable, and it is advisable to keep track of the waste generated, the means used for its removal and proof of delivery to authorized points.
It is of great importance to register non-recyclable waste, since these, along with dangerous waste, are those that are normally not managed correctly, sometimes ending up in ravines and lots. These non-recyclable waste, such as debris, must be treated correctly so that they can be disposed of correctly, and must be transferred to specialized collection plants or, failing that, to authorized clean points.
Although it may seem incredible, 50% of the waste and materials discarded on a construction site can be recycled, materials such as glass, plastics, metals, wood, and paper and cardboard can be recycled and converted into new materials usable in other industries, which is why today it is important to train workers on waste management, promoting awareness and the importance of recycling.
The legislation requires the recycling or reuse of 70% of the weight of non-hazardous waste derived from the construction or demolition of buildings.
For all of the above, when carrying out works, reconditioning work, or new construction, it will be necessary to have appropriate containers for different types of waste as needed, for example, container for glass, metal and its derivatives, wood, rubble…
In many countries, there are specialized companies that, among their services, offer the possibility of having special containers for the collection of debris and waste from minor works. These provide containers adapted to different types of materials, with different capacities that are subsequently collected and transferred to controlled landfills. It is important to separate waste into different containers: one for debris, another for wood, plastics and metals, and a third for glass, cardboard and paper.
In addition, it will be necessary to take special care with potentially dangerous waste such as paints and varnishes, batteries, derivatives of electronic devices, wiring covered in plastics, liquids and chemicals.
All this debris must be treated with special care when carrying out work at home, either by the owners themselves or by professionals hired for this purpose, since sometimes, the simplest solution is chosen. , dump the rubble in any open field.
It is of great importance to highlight, not only the visual or landscape damage that occurs with these spills, but also the potential contamination that these remains can produce when absorbed by the earth or groundwater near the place. of the spill.
Unknowingly, crop and agricultural areas may be being contaminated, in addition to the damage that may occur to wild fauna, damage that may reach us through the chain not too late. food.
