An industry training programme is equipping the next generation of builders and tradespeople with the skills to reuse and repurpose materials – and save them from landfill.
Training provider Ara Education Charitable Trust is a recipient of the Auckland Council’s Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund (WMIF), which provides seed funding to community and business-led initiatives that align with the council’s zero waste strategy.
Auckland Council Senior Waste Planning Specialist Mark Roberts says construction waste has the most potential for recovering resources, if the industry changes its practices.
“To make a dent in the enormous amounts of construction waste going to landfill, we need to support different ways of working and building. Our young people are leading the charge through the Ara Education Charitable Trust programme, which is giving them the opportunity to develop the skills needed, and to test innovative solutions in a real-world environment.”
Based in South Auckland, Ara Education Charitable Trust runs training programmes to help school leavers into jobs by giving them practical work experience renovating and restoring run-down houses, using demolition materials. Through the construction skills programme, rangatahi deconstruct and renovate houses with each group completing a house over six to eight months. The completed house is then on-sold. Any profit is reinvested into the renovation of the next house.
This year, with the support of the WMIF grant, the Trust is also researching ways to transform Hardie board from unused 1970s houses into valuable resources, reducing its environmental impact while promoting sustainable practices to its students.
Ara Education Charitable Trust General Manager Sarah Redmond says partnering with the Auckland Council Waste Solutions team has provided vital funding for research and development, as well as important resources.
“From obtaining quality tools to experimenting with reusing materials, the council grants have enabled our programme to provide more opportunities for our young people to learn and innovate. The council’s Waste Solutions staff have given us so much time and helped us connect with demolition partners and networks who are working towards minimising waste in the industry,” Dr Redmond says.
“Our young people learning trades with Ara Education Charitable Trust become the ambassadors and advocates for waste minimisation and resource recovery. They are learning to value materials and understand the true cost of waste,” says Dr Redmond.
“The waste minimisation ethos runs throughout everything we do, from using cups we got from an op shop in the break room to preparing lunches with no to little food waste. We have composting on site and even chickens.
“When something breaks down, whether here or at home, instead of thinking they’ll chuck it in the bin and buy it new, the trainees know with a bit of thought and effort they can probably fix it good as new.”
Connecting within the industry and the community means that not only are demolition materials used to renovate houses but uses are found for anything that is left over, such as:
- Timber and materials made into furniture
- Rimu and kauri turned into gifts like chopping boards – and plaques for graduates of the programme
- Plywood turned into letter boxes by community groups
- Weta motels made for an environmental group
- Timber is de-nailed and the nails collected for steel
Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board Member Christine O’Brien has seen the positive impact of the AECT programmes in the local community.
“I very much appreciate the Ara kaupapa and it’s been great to see the Ara Rangatahi Pathways to Employment Programme on a firm footing in recent years. Through the home refurbishment programme, local rangatahi interested in a trades career learn various skills hands-on, under experienced tradespeople. Rangatahi are also connected to industry, mentored and supported in their pathways.
“I also love the fact that older houses are not demolished and added to our waste streams but are refurbished by the students. They then become great homes for people elsewhere in the country, sold on to them at no profit. Really a win-win-win.”
With more than 40 per cent of total waste currently going to landfills coming from construction and demolition works, this is a priority area for the council to address, to support Auckland’s goal of zero waste by 2040.
For more information on the AECT schools programme, go to Ara Education Charitable Trust | Ara Jobs & Skills.
For more information on the Waste Minimisation & Innovation Fund go to About the Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund.
