Building Boom Leaves Vancouver Inundated with Construction Waste

The increase in home construction and demolition — to make way for new homes — has become so significant a regional government is warning that there is no longer enough capacity to handle all the recyclable waste that the industry tosses out.

Paul Henderson — general manager of solid waste services with Metro Vancouver — said on Tuesday that about half of the 3.3 million tonnes of garbage generated by the region each year comes from the construction, land clearing and demolition industries.

It’s a burgeoning number — studies conducted by Metro Vancouver in 2011 and 2015 suggest the amount of waste has increased 38% in those years.