Ask Trash Queen: What happens to the plastic shrink wrap around buildings?

A: LADE building shrink wrap is technically recyclable through a single-stream recycling process, however the answer to the question of whether it is recycled in every case is probably no. This product's recyclability decreases significantly if it is dirty or has concrete on it, so for the period it spends out in the weather and on muddy building sites there's a high chance some of it will be dirty.

This product boomed during the leaky building era, providing a solution to protecting buildings that suffered from weather-tightness issues, by preventing further weather damage while the building gets reclad. However it is far less prevalent as much of this work has tailed off in recent years.

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New builds don't need to rely on building wrap as the treated framing timber used now in the building process can withstand some exposure to the weather until the cladding is on.

Some builders are working really hard to reduce their reliance on single use plastics of this kind, and companies such as Mitre 10 have even designed new processes that allow timber to be delivered to site without being heavily wrapped in plastic.

Sunday Magazine