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M4I: demonstration project - Turning waste into profit - Project 11: Wessex Water - New Operations Centre - Economics of waste management and recycling operation (up to 31.03.2000)
00:00 24 May 2000
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The Landfill Tax is undoubtedly shifting the economics of waste
disposal in favour of recycling. But sustainability as a principle
of good business is high on the agenda at Wessex Water.
"Wessex Water is wholly committed to sustainability," says their project manager Neil Fischer. The water authority's new operations centre on the outskirts of Bath was designed with sustainable construction in mind.
It is intended to house 800 staff and was designed from a brief focusing on environmental considerations - the centre is within an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
"We took advice on natural ventilation, heating and cooling from Natural Step (at the Forum for the Future) and Bath University," says Fischer.
The new building has a floor area of 9,921m2 and incorporates environmentally sustainable designs. The office wings allow the building to benefit from a free warm up in winter mornings, while solar shading will protect the building from high sun angles in the summer.
The floors are naturally cross-ventilated and do not have air-conditioning. The design incorporates the concept of 'heat soaking' and 'thermal mass' to collect heat. Rainwater run off is collected in large tanks in the courtyard for the flushing of toilets. Storm water is being retained on site in 200,000 litre tanks and will be used for irrigation.
However, the most innovative sustainability project is the materials waste management and recycling programme.
When Mace was appointed as construction manager for the £22.5m centre it saw an opportunity to trial new methods focusing on the segregation and recycling of materials on site that would maximise processes and produce data for future comparison.
Mace immediately recognised that the solution to reducing the amount of tipped waste was to produce less waste in the first place, segregate it, then recycle as much as possible.
But the construction manager's first problem was to find a suitable waste management contractor in the vicinity of Bath. Eventually two contractors were prequalified and bids invited against an outline specification. Churngold of Bristol was eventually selected.
Waste contractor Churngold's Steve Chivers claims he can save contractors money, do the environment a big favour and make a tidy profit as well. "We've seen only limited success in construction waste. The big problem is getting the workforce to co-operate in segregation," he argues, "Mace has been exceptional in this regard."
Mace worked with Churngold developing the processes that encouraged segregation and recycling. Waste was segregated into four containers - cardboard, timber, metal and other waste. Segregation is an important factor, as waste contractors like Churngold typically offer a 50% reduction in disposal charges for waste segregated in large containers.
Deciding the container size was dictated by simple economics. Mace chose industry standard 40 yd3 containers as better discounts were offered for segregation in larger volumes. Wheelie bins were used to collect waste on each floor. The volumes of waste were then measured enabling Mace to track the proportion recycled and tipped.
Getting the co-operation of the workforce to place waste in designated bins was a challenge. Mace found that their small recycling team was kept busy checking and sorting waste misplaced in bins before loading it into the containers.
With the project in Bath nearing completion, some 1758yd3 of waste has been produced, but only 30% as landfill. "Normally all this would be tipped, but we recycled about 1200 yd3 back into the supply chain," explains Mace project manager Richard Evans.
The benefits of segregating waste for recycling are immediately apparent and the Wessex Water project shows how it is possible to make massive reductions in landfill and still save money.
"It has cost us £40,000 so far to reduce landfill by 70%. If we were tipping everything like we used to, the cost would be £50,000 - 25% higher," claims Evans. "Of course the economics would be different without the Landfill Tax," he concedes.
Wessex Water's Fischer says the waste recycling initiative has exceeded his expectations and is a great success. "I was concerned whether the whole construction team would be committed, but Mace's recycling strategy was very effective."
Mace will apply this innovation on other projects. Evans believes there is still much to learn and the company will continue to collect data and identify trends. Evans says waste recycling will quickly become best practice at Mace, as one of their normal construction management activities. Total quantity of waste: 1,758 yds
Cost if all the waste had been taken to landfill: £49,224
Actual costs to date
7 loads of metal @ £98 (transport cost only) Total quantity of metal 243 yds: £686
28 loads of timber @ £98 (transport cost only) Total quantity of timber 888 yds: £2,744
627 yds of mixed waste @ £28 per yd: £17,556
Management, extra labour and bins for segregation: (32 weeks @ £608): £19,456
Total: £40,442
The project is currently recycling 64% of all waste generated at a saving of £8,782. The remaining 36% of mixed waste goes to Churngold's materials recovery facility, where further sorting and recycling takes place.
BOXTEXT: project 11
Client: Wessex Water plc
Construction manager: Mace
Value: £22.5m
Location: Bath n Amount of landfill reduced by 70%
n Savings of 25% (£40,000 down from £50,000)
n Approximately 70% of non-landfill waste materials recycled
BOXTEXT: n Amount of landfill reduced by 70%
n Savings of 25% (£40,000 down from £50,000)
n Approximately 70% of non-landfill waste materials recycled
"Wessex Water is wholly committed to sustainability," says their project manager Neil Fischer. The water authority's new operations centre on the outskirts of Bath was designed with sustainable construction in mind.
It is intended to house 800 staff and was designed from a brief focusing on environmental considerations - the centre is within an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
"We took advice on natural ventilation, heating and cooling from Natural Step (at the Forum for the Future) and Bath University," says Fischer.
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The new building has a floor area of 9,921m2 and incorporates environmentally sustainable designs. The office wings allow the building to benefit from a free warm up in winter mornings, while solar shading will protect the building from high sun angles in the summer.
The floors are naturally cross-ventilated and do not have air-conditioning. The design incorporates the concept of 'heat soaking' and 'thermal mass' to collect heat. Rainwater run off is collected in large tanks in the courtyard for the flushing of toilets. Storm water is being retained on site in 200,000 litre tanks and will be used for irrigation.
However, the most innovative sustainability project is the materials waste management and recycling programme.
When Mace was appointed as construction manager for the £22.5m centre it saw an opportunity to trial new methods focusing on the segregation and recycling of materials on site that would maximise processes and produce data for future comparison.
Mace immediately recognised that the solution to reducing the amount of tipped waste was to produce less waste in the first place, segregate it, then recycle as much as possible.
But the construction manager's first problem was to find a suitable waste management contractor in the vicinity of Bath. Eventually two contractors were prequalified and bids invited against an outline specification. Churngold of Bristol was eventually selected.
Waste contractor Churngold's Steve Chivers claims he can save contractors money, do the environment a big favour and make a tidy profit as well. "We've seen only limited success in construction waste. The big problem is getting the workforce to co-operate in segregation," he argues, "Mace has been exceptional in this regard."
Mace worked with Churngold developing the processes that encouraged segregation and recycling. Waste was segregated into four containers - cardboard, timber, metal and other waste. Segregation is an important factor, as waste contractors like Churngold typically offer a 50% reduction in disposal charges for waste segregated in large containers.
Deciding the container size was dictated by simple economics. Mace chose industry standard 40 yd3 containers as better discounts were offered for segregation in larger volumes. Wheelie bins were used to collect waste on each floor. The volumes of waste were then measured enabling Mace to track the proportion recycled and tipped.
Getting the co-operation of the workforce to place waste in designated bins was a challenge. Mace found that their small recycling team was kept busy checking and sorting waste misplaced in bins before loading it into the containers.
With the project in Bath nearing completion, some 1758yd3 of waste has been produced, but only 30% as landfill. "Normally all this would be tipped, but we recycled about 1200 yd3 back into the supply chain," explains Mace project manager Richard Evans.
The benefits of segregating waste for recycling are immediately apparent and the Wessex Water project shows how it is possible to make massive reductions in landfill and still save money.
"It has cost us £40,000 so far to reduce landfill by 70%. If we were tipping everything like we used to, the cost would be £50,000 - 25% higher," claims Evans. "Of course the economics would be different without the Landfill Tax," he concedes.
Wessex Water's Fischer says the waste recycling initiative has exceeded his expectations and is a great success. "I was concerned whether the whole construction team would be committed, but Mace's recycling strategy was very effective."
Mace will apply this innovation on other projects. Evans believes there is still much to learn and the company will continue to collect data and identify trends. Evans says waste recycling will quickly become best practice at Mace, as one of their normal construction management activities. Total quantity of waste: 1,758 yds
Cost if all the waste had been taken to landfill: £49,224
Actual costs to date
7 loads of metal @ £98 (transport cost only) Total quantity of metal 243 yds: £686
28 loads of timber @ £98 (transport cost only) Total quantity of timber 888 yds: £2,744
627 yds of mixed waste @ £28 per yd: £17,556
Management, extra labour and bins for segregation: (32 weeks @ £608): £19,456
Total: £40,442
The project is currently recycling 64% of all waste generated at a saving of £8,782. The remaining 36% of mixed waste goes to Churngold's materials recovery facility, where further sorting and recycling takes place.
BOXTEXT: project 11
Client: Wessex Water plc
Construction manager: Mace
Value: £22.5m
Location: Bath n Amount of landfill reduced by 70%
n Savings of 25% (£40,000 down from £50,000)
n Approximately 70% of non-landfill waste materials recycled
BOXTEXT: n Amount of landfill reduced by 70%
n Savings of 25% (£40,000 down from £50,000)
n Approximately 70% of non-landfill waste materials recycled
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