We have all stayed at rubbish hotels but this one is a little different, it’s a hotel made entirely out of rubbish.

The hotel is made up of approximately twelve tonnes of rubbish collected from Europe’s beaches. It has been built as an artistic method of raising awareness about the throwaway culture that we live in and to highlight the coastline’s worrying levels of pollution.

The hotel is located in the world famous tourist city of Rome and has been created by German artist HA Schult. The distinguished guest list of the hotel includes eco-warrior and Danish fashion model Helena Christensen.

Whilst this may be seen as a bit of fun by some, there is a very serious underlying message that we are ignorant about rubbish and resources. We currently consume far beyond the earths capacity of resources and at some point something must give.

To some extent the increased awareness of recycling has largely determined that our throw away lifestyles can be maintained safe in the knowledge that rubbish will be recycled. This fails to address the true underlying problems and the need to reduce our rubbish, where this is not possible then reuse should be preferential to recycling.

This is a value that BuilderScrap can assist with in relation to construction materials, we are always seeking to maximise the life cycle of products and resources by providing a platform to do so.

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that we do everything we can to reduce the amount of consumption that we are currently inflicting on our planet, after all the earths resources are finite.

The docklands of the Wirral Peninsula faces a massive regeneration scheme over the next three decades after the £4.5 billion planning application was given the green light.

The Wirral Waters scheme will transform more than 500 acres of disused brownfield sites over the next 30 years in the Birkenhead region. The project aims to breathe fresh life into the area, creating environmental as well as economic benefits to Birkenhead, Wallasey as well as the Merseyside region as a whole.

The development is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs during the construction phase and has been hailed a massive boost to the economy of the area as well as the residents that the project will impact directly upon.

The cabinet member for regeneration and planning strategy, Andrew Hodson commented: “This is a great day for Wirral. We have been working closely with Peel for almost four years to bring jobs and regeneration to the borough”.

“The approval of this planning application will lead to the total transformation of what is currently derelict brownfield land within East Float at Birkenhead Docks and when finished will create over 27,000 jobs.

“This has taken place against a backdrop of the worst recession in living memory and it is a credit to both Peel and Wirral Council that we have kept the plans moving.”

He added: “Subject to getting the okay from the government, we hope work will start on site within the next two years and officers of the council will continue to work with Peel as we move into the development phase.”

At BuilderScrap we are delighted to hear the news of this local development, as a Wirral based company this announcement marks exciting times for the area and we look forward to seeing the project progress.

Source: EDIE (net) 23 August 2010

Laing O’ Rourke became the first winner of the North West Construction Hub (NWCH) framework tendering process securing the £90m Manchester Central Library and Town Hall redevelopment.

The project which has been designed by architect Vincent Harris includes the restoration of Manchester’s Grade II- listed Central Library and Town Hall as well as redevelopment of St Peters Square. The project is due to be delivered by 2013.

Andrew Jackson, leader of Laing O’Rourke’s Construction North division, said: “Securing this exciting and unique project will enable Laing O’Rourke to build on our solid reputation for delivering landmark projects. It is a complex and challenging project, and one of huge value architecturally, culturally and civically. We look forward to partnering once again with Manchester council.”

This is the first of a number of tenders which will be done through the North West Construction Hub which divides work into three separate frameworks dependent upon project value. The High Value Framework tenders for jobs over £10m and is competed between a total of five organisations, the others being Bovis Lend Lease, Kier, Morgan Sindall and Wates.

The Framework has been developed as a method to ensure that local council can work in partnership with public sector construction in order to ensure that the delivery is efficient and on time. It also shares knowledge and experience as well as creating an emphasis on improved quality and sustainability.

(Source: Building.co.uk)

Councils in England are to be offered extra money for every newly-built home, as part of a government programme aimed at easing housing shortages.

Under the New Homes Bonus scheme the government will match the council tax raised on each new house for six years.

For every new home built the government will match the council tax raised on each new house for a period of six years – for a band D home that would be around £1400.

With 4.5m people now on council house waiting lists the new drive has been designed to help lower these lists and provide modern, efficient housing for their new residents.

Brendon Kenny of materials reuse platform BuilderScrap commented that, ‘this bold new initiative could help millions of people off waiting lists and into affordable housing. What the government needs to ensure is that construction site waste is minimised and that any reusable materials are put back into the community by posting them onto BuilderScrap. Statistics show that 14% (equivalent to approx 16.8m tonnes per annum)of all new construction materials are wasted and simply thrown away. Given the size of this new initiative, many other community building projects could benefit hugely if a properly managed, materials reuse policy using BuilderScrap is deployed by the construction companies’