# Forum Home Renovation General Odds & Sods  Getting rid of broken bricks free/cheap?

## ChocDog

I've got about a ute load (1 cubic metre) of broken bricks I need to get rid off. I've had a quick look into re-cycled brick places but the ones I've found only want to take re-usable bricks. I would have thought there'd be a secondary use of broken bricks as some sort of aggregate hence being able to get rid of them for next to nothing. The local tip charges about $140 for a cubic metre of building waste. 
Any suggestions on the cheapest way to get rid of them. Inner north of Melbourne area preferred. 
Cheers for any help!

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## CraigandKate

Do a run around on bin night throwing them in everyone's bins, great thing about bricks/concrete is that it compacts everything below it nicely!

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## ChocDog

Ha! Had thought about that...

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## CraigandKate

I may or may not of used this method to get rid of several cubic metres of rubble over a few weeks.. It does make a bit of a racket when they tip it in the truck though!

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## ChocDog

Nice one! Unfortunately we only have small size bins where we live, and they are always (apparently...) full. Plus there is already a back log of normal stuff that needs to get into the bin anyway. There is a mob in Brooklyn that will accept clean concrete for free (will have some of that shortly as well) but only if it comes in via tipper truck. Might need to look into converting the tray on the ute into a tipper tray.... 
The annoying thing is that I will need some medium size aggregate soon for aggi drains I need to put in (before the lawn) and crushed brick would probably work. But I reckon if I tried to break it up, I'll end up with more dust than useful aggregate.

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## Moondog55

Dig a big hole in the back yard, fill with broken bricks then offer free garden soil on Freecycle, speaking of which we have 4 m<3 of good garden soil in the front yard if anybody wants any
Alternatively and what we will be doing, make a big concrete base for the BBQ area and toss in all the bricks there

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## Marc

In Sydney there are still a few places that take bricks for a nominal fee of $10 to the machine operator that brake them into aggregate. There is bound to be a place like it in Melbourne. 
Alternatively... make a pizza oven! You need bricks for the base and for the oven, voila, bricks gone.

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## OBBob

Surely one of these guy's would take it?   Recycling | Landfill, Recycling and Crushed Products, Sustainable Waste Disposal | Melbourne | Sunshine Groupe  Bricks and Tiles Recycling | SITA Australia  
I'm dismayed that it's so hard to recycle now. Green waste is a good example. They used to swap a load of green waste for a trailer of mulch at the tip, now you have to pay landfil rates to dump the green waste and then buy the mulch.

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## PlatypusGardens

> Alternatively and what we will be doing, make a big concrete base for the BBQ area and toss in all the bricks there

  
Ah yes I heard something about this....    :Biggrin:

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## ChocDog

> In Sydney there are still a few places that take bricks for a nominal fee of $10 to the machine operator that brake them into aggregate. There is bound to be a place like it in Melbourne. 
> Alternatively... make a pizza oven! You need bricks for the base and for the oven, voila, bricks gone.

  Thats exactly what I'm looking for. Any chance you remember the name of one of the Sydney mobs Marc? Perhaps my google ninja skills are becoming blunt and details about a Sydney business might help me get back on track.  
Re the pizza oven. Well, now that you mention it, when we were in South America I came obsessed with their parrilla bbq design. Actually the slow cooked pork ribs that were coming out of them! So I have a nice stack of bricks sitting in the corner for that project. And a few other projects. These are just the rejects that need to be ditched. Projects? Yeah, not too sure when I get to them though....

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## ChocDog

> Surely one of these guy's would take it?   Recycling | Landfill, Recycling and Crushed Products, Sustainable Waste Disposal | Melbourne | Sunshine Groupe  Bricks and Tiles Recycling | SITA Australia  
> I'm dismayed that it's so hard to recycle now. Green waste is a good example. They used to swap a load of green waste for a trailer of mulch at the tip, now you have to pay landfil rates to dump the green waste and then buy the mulch.

  Thanks Bob. I looked at both these guys yesterday. Unfortunately SITA is in Dandenong (not worth the effort for a few bricks!) and need to follow up with Sunshine. 
I agree, its waaaay to hard. I hate waste and try to/want to do the right thing but its bloody hard. Everyone involved in recycling these days appears to want to make a buck at both ends; receiving the recyclable product and then selling the by-product. Something needs to change if they want people to embrace recycling more.  
Its good that tips allow you to drop some recyclables there for free (cardboard, steel, etc) but they should expand this concept. Eg there is a phenomenal amount of concrete (and bricks) being removed by small reno jobs all the time. The big recyclers of this waste (Alex Fraser etc) are happy to take it so they can turn it into road fill aggregate. But only if you have a tripper truck size load. Fair enough; economies of scale. So, what about everyone else that doesnt have a dump truck sized load to deal with? Most will end up in landfill. This doesnt help anyone. Therefore the council tips should diversify and accept this waste for free, as a holding point, to allow the larger mobs to access this waste in more suitable volume for their business. Win win. But hey, looking after the environment is only lip service by most councils/businesses. Gripe over.

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## Moondog55

Locally they charge to dump the concrete and other building rubble and then resell at a nominal cost for mixed aggregate but it is a pain in the wallet for small quantities

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## notvery

Go to local  ford / Holden show room (pick whichever one you dislike most). test drive a ute. return ute with free load of bricks. its a test drive.. your going to fill it with bricks... you wanted to test its capabilities in that situation.

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## ChocDog

Ha! I actually know of someone that did the reverse. Took a ute for an evaluation overnight, used said ute to visit a display home village, and loaded all the pavers from a display home into the ute. Returned ute the next day. And no, this person I know is not me!

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## Smurf

> The local tip charges about $140 for a cubic metre of building waste.

  That's just..... wow! 
Down here I dumped 3 full ute loads of concrete and it cost a bit over $40 in total. Better not tell Hobart City Council otherwise they'll put the charges up. 
As for recycling, they require that you dump waste in the appropriate place. There's a pile for concrete and bricks, a pile for garden waste, a pile for old washing machines etc. I'm not sure about bricks specifically, but certainly some of the other materials do get recycled.

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## Tools

Google Alex Fraser in Laverton, Delta in Sunshine or City Circle in Brooklyn.
They will take a truck load for free but may charge you for a small quantity. 
Tools

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## Marc

> Thats exactly what I'm looking for. Any chance you remember the name of one of the Sydney mobs Marc? Perhaps my google ninja skills are becoming blunt and details about a Sydney business might help me get back on track.  
> Re the pizza oven. Well, now that you mention it, when we were in South America I came obsessed with their parrilla bbq design. Actually the slow cooked pork ribs that were coming out of them! So I have a nice stack of bricks sitting in the corner for that project. And a few other projects. These are just the rejects that need to be ditched. Projects? Yeah, not too sure when I get to them though....

   No I don't really know the company name, it is an ugly hole in the back ways of Scoffield. 
South American pizza oven, is made with half bricks and quarter bricks set in mud, so if you want to make this low tech oven you actually need broken bricks.

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