In our last post on sustainable solar development, we discussed procurement, the “P” in the acronym EPC, which stands for engineering, procurement, and construction. In part three of this six-part series, we’ll discuss the “c,” construction.
Solar construction waste has a tangible and visible impact on the environment and the solar project’s community. Multimegawatt projects involve thousands of solar modules that are carefully wrapped in plastics and cardboard and arrive on wood pallets. Inverters, wiring, and other balance of system equipment also have various types of packaging that protect the equipment during overseas and U.S. shipping.
Typically, solar modules and other equipment packaging are removed and placed into large waste containers that are subsequently emptied at a local landfill. Even for the smallest utility solar projects, the waste adds up to tons of plastic, cardboard, paper, and metal scraps filling up nearby landfills.
Realizing that this construction waste causes a negative impact on the environment, Inovateus is leading the solar industry by committing to zero waste construction initiative.
What is Zero Waste Construction?
There are many definitions of “zero waste.” A definition that fits well with solar development and construction comes from the Zero Waste International Alliance, which defines zero waste as “The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.”
Embracing these principles, Inovateus is implementing a zero waste job site initiative with the following zero-waste best practices for solar:
Step 1: Assess and Strategize. With every construction site, Inovateus assesses the potential impact from construction and develops strategies and local partners that will enable Inovateus to recycle, reuse, or repurpose all construction waste.
Step 2: Educate the Labor Force. When commencing construction on sites, Inovateus educates contractors and subcontractors about our goals for zero waste and trains them on identifying sorting waste into collection bins.
Step 3: Manage and Separate Materials Streams. With our waste and recycling partners identified and our trained workforce, Inovateus team members set up recycling containers for executing the best sustainable waste management practices.
Step 4: Collection Process. After their lessons on identifying waste streams, our contractors and subcontractors sort packaging and other waste into clearly marked designated bins placed throughout the job site.
Step 5: Plan Logistics and Transport Waste. In conjunction with our waste management partners, Inovateus transports each category of waste to its recycling or repurposing facility. On a recent job site, Inovateus replanted a tree at our office rather than sending the tree for composting.
Step 6: Manage Damaged Equipment. Should any solar modules or other equipment become damaged through shipping or weather events, Inovateus implements its plans to repair or recycle the equipment.
Step 7: Share savings with project owner. Sometimes there is a cost for recycling, but there are some instances where a damaged solar module can be repaired and sold to a secondary market. Other equipment, such as copper wiring, can be sold for scrap. Inovateus shares these savings with the project owner.
We began these best practices at the end of 2019. As of the writing of this blog, Inovateus has used these steps and prevented 179.4 tons of waste from being buried at landfills. It’s an impressive number, but due to various local recycling and repurposing limitations, we are not perfect. The closest we’ve achieved for zero waste is 94%, but we continue to find new ways to achieve true zero waste for each solar project.
In the next part of our series, we’ll explore how to be better stewards of the land through vegetation management and planting ground cover that supports local flora and farmers.
