Our BuilderScrap website, for the construction industry in Wales to trade waste materials usually destined for landfill sites will go live in November.

BuilderScrap is an online way for the construction supply chain to manage its surplus materials builders and others tradesmen can access www.BuilderScrap.com and offer their surplus bricks, timber or other materials online and then be matched to potential buyers of the materials.

Our online materials and recycling exchange platform is being supported by Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) as part of an initiative to support the Welsh Assembly Government to reach targets regarding minimising waste and improve recycling in construction and demolition.

CEW estimate that 14% of all construction waste is made up from new materials that are simply thrown away on site.

Our BuilderScrap team is now working with the CEW waste programme team to develop a version of the platform specifically for the Welsh construction industry.

Karin Black, waste strategy adviser for the Welsh Assembly Government, said: “The rhetoric about waste reduction has gained momentum in recent years, but real alternatives have relied largely on the commitment of individual contractors and educated clients.”

“The agreement with CEW to take up the challenge of supporting a significant diversion of materials from landfill by deploying the BuilderScrap materials reuse platform is a major step in the right direction. This is the first government-backed initiative of its type in the UK and is pivotal to CEW’s ongoing strategy to reduce the waste generated by the construction industry.”

Paul Jennings, director of CEW, said: “The issue of waste in the construction industry is now so serious that to not take action and simply try to talk the industry around is no longer acceptable. We are running out of landfill space at an alarming rate and jeopardising the environment by wasting construction materials that could be used elsewhere. It is a win-win scenario that should be welcomed by all the stakeholders in the industry.”

Our very own Brendon Kenny BuilderScrap said: “We have seen a change in attitudes to how construction materials can be reused by others involved in building projects since the launch of BuilderScrap. With the launch of the CEW platform, it serves as a further validation that this initiative can play a pivotal part of an overall waste management strategy.”

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’