Most of what comes off a house demolition is recycled, not landfilled. Concrete, brick, scrap metal and green waste are all sorted and sent for recycling rather than straight to the tip.
What actually goes to landfill is a small, specific list: material that genuinely can't be recovered, mostly old lead-painted timber, carpet and insulation from older homes.
Here's how the process actually works, material by material.
What gets recycled, material by material
A typical house demolition produces four broad waste streams. Here's what happens to each of them:
| Material | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Concrete & brick | Recycled — the largest single waste stream by weight on most jobs |
| Scrap metal | Recycled |
| Green waste (trees, shrubs, garden material) | Recycled |
| Reusable timber & fixtures | Salvaged before demolition where possible |
| Asbestos-containing material | Removed separately by a licensed contractor and disposed of at a facility licensed to accept it |
| Non-recoverable material (old lead-painted timber, carpet, insulation) | Landfill — this is genuinely the only category that ends up there |
On an average brick veneer house, that breaks down roughly into around 100 tonnes of brick and concrete, 25 tonnes of general rubbish, 15 tonnes of green waste and 1.5 tonnes of scrap metal — with only a small fraction of the total ending up at the tip. That split is illustrative of one typical job, not an audited company-wide average — every house is different.
How the sorting process actually works
Material is sorted on site where possible, then taken to a transfer station for further processing. At the transfer station, hardwood and any remaining scrap metal are pulled out before the rest is sorted. What's left after that — mostly items likely to carry old lead paint, plus carpet and insulation — is what actually goes to landfill.
This is a genuinely different outcome to just tipping a mixed skip bin: sorting properly, rather than sending everything to landfill as one load, is what keeps the recyclable material out of the ground.
Timber salvage before demolition day
Before the machines move in, a timber salvage crew strips the building of anything with reclaimable value. This happens after any required asbestos removal and shortly before the demolition itself — usually about a day's work on its own. More on the full demolition process.
Why waffle pod slabs complicate concrete recycling
Waffle pod slabs are increasingly common in newer builds — foam pods are laid down before concrete is poured over the top, which saves on concrete and adds some under-slab insulation. They're popular with builders mainly because they avoid the need to excavate for a conventional footing.
The catch for demolition is that concrete recyclers won't accept concrete with foam still embedded in it. Plain concrete is normally free to recycle — concrete with foam in it isn't, unless the foam is separated out first. That separation is a specialised part of the process for any house being demolished that was built on a waffle pod slab, and it's what allows that concrete to still go for recycling instead of landfill.
Why a clean demolition site matters more than it looks
Site cleanliness isn't just about how a block looks once the rubble is gone — it's also about what's still in the soil. Demolition crews use a sieve bucket to screen rubble out of the soil as the site is cleared, and the size of the screen matters: a finer screen catches smaller debris (brick chips, small rubble) that a coarser one lets straight through.
Why this is worth asking about. A site can look completely clean on the surface and still have debris left in the soil underneath — the kind of thing a builder only discovers once they start digging footings, months later. It's a fair question to ask any demolisher: what size sieve screen do they run, and how do they leave the soil, not just the surface?
Common questions
What happens to the material from a demolished house?
Concrete, brick, scrap metal and green waste are all sorted and recycled rather than trucked straight to landfill. Material typically goes to a transfer station where it's further sorted — hardwood and any remaining scrap metal are pulled out — and only genuinely non-recoverable material, mostly old lead-painted timber, carpet and insulation, goes to landfill.
Is concrete from a demolished house recycled?
Yes, plain concrete and brick are recycled as standard. The one exception is concrete poured over waffle pod foam formwork, which recyclers won't accept until the foam is separated out — that separation is done before the concrete goes for recycling.
Does asbestos removal affect recycling?
Asbestos material is handled entirely separately from the recycling stream, under WorkSafe licensing requirements, and disposed of at facilities licensed to accept it — it's never mixed with general recyclable waste.
Can I keep or salvage materials from my house before demolition?
Often, yes — fixtures, reusable timber, bricks and windows are commonly salvaged before the machines move in. Let your demolisher know before the quote, since it affects the schedule.