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How to Dispose of Old Insulation

Steffen
February 10, 2022
How to Dispose of Old Insulation

Have you recently decided to switch your home insulation? Or do you have leftover insulation materials from a renovation that you have no further use for? Either way – it is essential that you know how to dispose of old insulation. Ridly has a great strategy to help you remove old insulation safely from your home and recycle these materials hassle-free.

In any home, insulation materials are incorporated to reduce the heat or cool air escaping from your home throughout the year. When done correctly, insulation is excellent for the environment as it ensures that the temperature is kept stable in hotter and cooler months.

Recycling leftover fibreglass

In many cases, when setting up your home insulation, you may have leftover materials. Often there are areas of your home where a bit of extra insulation is beneficial. The attic or the basement often are the best places to find further use for insulation in your home. If you run out of options, recycling is the best way of disposing of old insulation correctly.

How to dispose of old insulation:

To aid our readers who may find themselves in this situation, we have developed this guide on properly disposing of your old insulation and some of the things to avoid in this process. This will not only save you time but also help in cleaning up our planet.

When should I remove my insulation?

Adding Insulation to your home is one of the best investments you can make to reduce your overall energy use. However, like any material, a build-up of water, dirt, dust, and compression of the material over many years will reduce this effectiveness over time.

Generally, your household insulation should be replaced or retrofitted every 15 to 20 years. However, this number may come sooner if you need to replace or retrofit your insulation, depending on which type is installed or if damage has occurred.

Keep an eye out for these signs to see if your insulation needs changing:

  • Indoor temperature is fluctuating
  • Energy use is higher than usual
  • There has been a pest infestation (your ceilings are the most common area for rats, mice or possums to make their homes)

If you have noticed any of these things, it might be time to look at your current insulation set-up and start taking steps to replace it.

Can you take insulation to the dump?

So, you’ve decided to get rid of your old insulation. The first question you are probably asking is, can you take insulation to the dump? Landfill, to many, is the final destination for almost all the waste we find in our homes. But it is only a temporary solution to an ongoing problem.

Knowing how to get rid of old insulation and what to do with your excess insulation is an answer worth clarifying, as the wrong decision can contaminate your waste bin. Even if unintentional, it is still a fineable offence in some areas. Beyond just a fine, insulation from your home can contaminate a whole truck full of recycling to be redirected to a landfill if not recycled properly, which can undermine an entire household’s effort to recycle correctly.

Your old insulation should also avoid finding its way to the dump because it can contain many harmful chemicals released to the broader environment when not disposed of correctly. Many materials used in the manufacture of insulation take a long time to break down naturally, and this only grows as more rubbish is added.

With Ridly’s focus on sustainability, our unique recycling and waste disposal services strive to keep as much material away from landfills and instead encourage options for recycling that support the environment’s health.

Why Should I Recycle Old Insulation?

Before jumping into how to dispose of old insulation materials, it is essential to consider why recycling is the best option for your old insulation. Bagging up your rolls of insulation for landfills may seem like the easy option when considering what to do with any excess materials. With the numerous styles of home insulation, including materials like cellulose, fibreglass or foam. However, when removing or recycling them, many of these materials are synthetic and don’t break down in landfills. So, recycling them is paramount to ensuring they do not pollute the environment.

Ridly offers the most reliable and trusted removal of insulation service offered around Sydney today. Our team will ensure that your old insulation is recycled responsibly.

Can’t I Just Recycle Old Insulation Myself?

The do-it-yourself approach to removing and disposing of old insulation is a risky activity. Removing old insulation is incredibly difficult and time-consuming, especially without the right equipment. Removing and recycling old insulation carries numerous health and safety risks.

Insulation removal and disposal requires relevant experience. This isn’t always work that the average homeowner can manage effectively in many cases. Removal and safe disposal of old insulation requires proper equipment. We don’t recommend taking shortcuts in this process.

It’s necessary to understand after removing the insulation following whichever method you choose is whether your local council outlines whether you can or cannot recycle this old insulation. You do not want to risk a fine for putting this in the wrong bin, plus you don’t want to be responsible for an entire load of recyclable materials making their way to landfill either.

If how to dispose of old insulation sounds a bit complex or an issue you don’t have the time to investigate on your own, phone the recycling experts. At Ridly, we make recycling waste from old insulation responsibly our mission, and we will collect it from your home in the most effective and sustainable way possible.

Different types of home insulation

How to get rid of fibreglass insulation?

When it comes to how to get rid of fibreglass insulation, to many, simply dropping old fibreglass insulation to the dump seems like the easiest option. These tiny fibres can irritate the skin or eyes and cause further damage when breathed into the lungs. The most dangerous ones are invisible to the naked eye but do the most damage to your lungs. Beyond this, dumping fibreglass in some cases is even a criminal offence, with associated punishments. Recycling fibreglass is by far the better option. The recycled fibreglass can be included in outdoor furniture, bus seats, boats, surfboards, and many other items.

At Ridly, we are working on going landfill-free. Taking special consideration to classify all the insulation correctly, we collect to find better destinations than landfill responsibly. We are constantly trying to find the best way to reuse, recycle, donate, or convert your waste to energy. It’s a lengthier process on our end, but we are worth the extra effort to protect the environment.

Book Construction & Demolition Waste Removal Today

By selecting a sustainable insulation removal option, especially with many of these insulation materials, you are helping the planet become a cleaner place. Ridly does not sacrifice quality or convenience for this extra effort, as we are glad to offer same-day, contactless collection even if you are away from home when we arrive. We take special pride in being Australia’s first rubbish removal service that sorts and recycles everything we collect.

Starting at only $69, Ridly offers an environmentally friendly recycling service. For the same price as many of our competitors, we will not only avoid taking your old insulation materials to landfills, but we will also ensure they are recycled responsibly. This would be money well spent to anyone, as we are offering the same services with the added benefit of sorting and recycling. Call us on 0491 181 130 or request a quote online for all household, demolition waste, and Construction waste disposal Sydney services.

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