By Breaker Demolition · Published September 12, 2026 · No prices in the guides; every number comes from a site walk. Anything in [brackets] is confirmed before launch.
Concrete, brick and block are crushed for aggregate
Foundations, slabs, footings, chimneys and brick veneer are the heaviest part of any tear-down and the easiest to recycle. They go to a crushing yard where the rubble is screened, crushed and sold back as aggregate for road base and backfill. The rebar comes out on a magnet and joins the scrap pile.
On a clean job we keep the concrete in its own bin so nothing has to be picked out later. Clean concrete tips for less than mixed waste, which is the plain reason to keep it separate.
Metal, wood and drywall
Metal pays its own way. Ductwork, cast iron stacks, copper pipe, steel beams, the electrical panel and the old furnace are pulled, sorted by type and sold to a scrap dealer. Copper and wire are the valuable ones. Galvanized duct is worth little but still leaves the waste stream.
Clean wood, meaning framing lumber, sheathing and joists without paint, treatment or glue, is chipped. Painted, pressure-treated and laminated wood goes with the mixed load.
Drywall can be recycled where a facility accepts it. The gypsum is ground back into new board or soil amendment. Wet drywall, or board with mould on it, does not qualify and goes to landfill.
What ends up in the mixed bin
Insulation, carpet, vinyl flooring, laminate, shingles, plastic, ceramic tile and the rubble that cannot be separated on site. This is mixed waste, and it goes to a transfer station, where some of it is sorted again, or straight to landfill. Tipping fees for mixed waste are the highest of any load, which is the practical reason we sort on site.
Appliances are their own case. Fridges, freezers, air conditioners and dehumidifiers hold refrigerant, and a licensed technician has to recover it before the unit goes to scrap. A fridge thrown in a bin with the gas still in it is a fine for the hauler and a rejected load at the yard.
Asbestos and designated substances
Asbestos, lead paint dust, mercury switches and other designated substances never ride in a mixed bin. On pre-1990 buildings a designated substances survey identifies them before demolition. Licensed abatement crews remove the material, bag or wrap it, seal it, label it and ship it as regulated waste to a licensed disposal site with a manifest.
If someone offers to throw a vermiculite ceiling or old duct wrap in the general bin to save money, that is a problem for you, the hauler and the landfill. It is also the kind of thing that stops a job when an inspector walks through.
How much gets diverted
Across our jobs the diversion rate is [n]% (Kam supplies the real number and the sorting partner). The number depends on the house. A brick bungalow on a full-height foundation is mostly concrete and masonry and diverts well. A finished basement full of carpet, laminate and insulation diverts poorly. Ask for the sorting partner's name on your estimate if the number matters for your builder's green certification.
Bins: sizes and where they sit
Every load leaves in a roll-off bin. Four sizes cover most jobs. The bin line on a quote includes tipping and shows HST separately.
A bin on your driveway needs no paperwork. A bin on the street needs a municipal road occupation permit, and in most GTA cities that is a separate fee and a lead time. We pull it when the driveway cannot take the bin. Ask for a bin count on your estimate. The number of pulls matters more than the size.
- 10 yard: a bathroom or a small kitchen strip-out.
- 20 yard: a full kitchen, a basement strip-out or a garage.
- 30 yard: a whole-house interior strip-out.
- 40 yard: a tear-down, usually several bins over the job.