Every day NYC’s Construction and Demolition (C&D) industry throws away over 19,000 tons of building materials. Not only does this stretch the capacity of our landfills, those 19,000 tons are a missed opportunity. Salvaged building materials have substantial economic and environmental value. When materials are sent to the landfill instead of being salvaged and reused, the economic value and embodied energy in those items are lost. This means more resource extraction and energy use to create new materials.

Deconstruction is the selective and careful dismantling of buildings to maximize reuse and recycling. Along with the economic and environmental benefits of diverting usable materials from the landfill, Deconstruction requires more labor than conventional demolition. That means more jobs, green jobs, jobs with a future. Click here to learn more about deconstruction.

While Big Reuse does not have a deconstruction crew, we do have staff who can help answer questions about deconstruction and work with you (and/or contractor) to divert as many items as possible from the waste stream and into reuse. One way we do this is by picking up items once they’ve been salvaged.

If you are interested in getting a pick-up or discussing how to incorporate deconstruction into your project, please fill out our pick-up form.