Bam Construct, Laing O'Rourke and Bovis boost waste measures
With the UK now officially in recession and budgets continuing to tighten, the economic argument for waste reduction is stronger than ever. Mervyn Jones explains the positive measures some contractors have put in place.
As the economic downturn takes effect, the cold hard facts have increasing resonance: every year, the UK construction industry wastes £1.5bn in unused materials - cashflow that could quite simply be profit.
Achieving good practice waste reduction and recovery can help contractors comply with legislation, and deliver cost savings that substantially outweigh the effort of delivery. With more than 50 organisations now signed up to WRAP's Construction Commitments: Halving Waste to Landfill, a voluntary agreement that provides a framework for waste reduction, it seems that a growing proportion of the sector is recognising and pursuing these benefits.
Across the country, the practical impact of the agreement is beginning to show as the likes of Laing O'Rourke and BAM Construct work with WRAP to develop and implement existing commitments to waste reduction. BAM, for example, is working towards achieving near-zero waste-to-landfill and has set year-on-year reduction targets. Its work with WRAP has been to focus on benchmarking and reporting and, in turn, implement a number of simple measures to help meet waste-reduction targets.
WRAP has been working with BAM Construct to identify how to use subcontract agreements at the procurement stage, in order to get subcontractors to identify their own waste reduction measures, waste monitoring systems, and waste diversion from landfill targets.
These requirements are linked to a key tool for implementing halving waste to landfill: site waste management plans (SWMPs). SWMPs have been used by BAM since 2004, but have now been developed to support its targets to reduce waste, and throughout 2008 BAM carried out an extensive environmental training programme with those responsible for site management. This included a session dedicated to waste management issues, which explored waste reduction and re-use initiatives that can be employed on sites. The initiatives are now included as options within its SWMP template.
This improved level of information and management is being used to identify specific targets within the firm. For example, with excavation waste accounting for approximately 70% of waste removed from its sites, BAM is working with groundworks contractors to find alternative uses for this material on and off site.
Laing O'Rourke is also working to meet its halving-waste-to-landfill commitment. It is identifying its baseline, improving measurement and using procurement of subcontractors to support this. Its new SWMP processes are linked to a 'waste tracker' performance system to measure live site waste data and progress towards targets.
On its Meath Gardens project, it is collaborating with the supply chain to use plasterboard sizes that match building storey heights of 2.7m. This has resulted in a substantial reduction in plasterboard waste.
Material specification is only one of the many ways that waste can be reduced by contractors. Laing O'Rourke employs a variety of measures such as 'just in time' materials delivery strategies, improved logistics, and on-site housekeeping practices such as designated storage areas and segregated vehicle and pedestrian routes. These reduce the amount of material damaged, and reduce the over-ordering of materials, which, despite the fact that they can account for as much as 10% of the total materials ordered, often end up in a skip unused.
The halving-waste-to-landfill message is best illustrated by Bovis Lend Lease's rationale for committing to the target. In its view, waste represents poor business efficiency and performance, whether it is the result of over-ordering of materials, their poor storage, or poor design in the first place.
A year ago, Bovis launched its sustainability targets. These included a commitment to reduce construction waste to landfill by 70% by the end of 2010, and it has since gone on to develop a waste management process model that embeds waste minimisation into all elements of the procurement and construction process.
This involves taking action to ensure materials are selected appropriately so they can be re-used, recovered or recycled at the construction end of the process. It has also resulted in a significant commitment to training, and the development of Bovis' Project NoWaste training programme.
Originally part-sponsored by the Carbon Trust, Project NoWaste is aimed at reducing waste on construction sites through teaching that increases awareness and develops skills. It is an investment that has paid off: projects which received the training achieved a range of 15% to 20% in waste reduction, compared to similar sites.
There is a significant range of opportunities to reduce waste throughout the supply chain, hence the efforts of contractors, and indeed the whole supply chain, are crucial to the success of the agreement. BAM, Laing O'Rourke and Bovis Lend Lease are just three of the 50 organisations that are already signed up to Halving Waste to Landfill and benefiting from the differentiation, efficiencies and cost-savings it offers. We urge the rest of the industry to follow suit.
Mervyn Jones is construction programme manager at WRAP