Australia is on course to squander a staggering AUD 64 billion (~USD 44 billion) worth of construction materials over the next five years if urgent reforms are not implemented, warns the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) in its new “waste[d] Opportunity 2025” report.
The survey reveals that the average building project discards 141 kg of construction materials per square metre—comparable to unloading a fully stocked fridge per m². Although many sites report landfill diversion rates above 90%, recovery of materials such as plastics is as low as 14%, and nearly 22% of materials ordered for a typical apartment are never incorporated, costing owners around AUD 52,000 per unit.
Jorge Chapa, GBCA’s Chief Impact Officer, emphasized that such waste represents more than environmental harm—it’s a depletion of economic value, emissions mitigation, and opportunity. The report’s benchmarks for construction and fit-out waste point to urgent action needed across supply chains and better tracking to shift from landfill diversion to true material recovery.
Replicability is already being demonstrated. For instance, saveBOARD, a project referenced in response to the GBCA’s findings, transforms soft plastic waste into reusable building panels—ensuring end-of-life circularity.
