Todays BuilderScrap.com post revisits the Recycling around the world series BBC reporter Jeremy Bowen discusses Italy.

Waste disposal regulations in Italy vary from district to district. In Rome, the rules were toughened earlier this month. People who do not separate their rubbish can be fined up to 619 euros if they have a recycling bin within 500 metres of their front door.

Romans often claim that it is hard to find a bin and even harder to find one that is not full. The city council has ordered 2,500 new bins. They are colour-coded green for household waste, white for paper and blue for plastic.

The streets of the historic centre of Rome have almost no recycling bins yet. The streets are cleaned very efficiently, by vehicles that drive over waste and suck it up like enormous self-propelled vacuum cleaners.

In southern Italy local politicians claim that the waste management industry is controlled by organised crime. Last year the European Commission said it was taking action against Italy, for 28 breaches of EU laws on the environment. It said that Italy was denying its citizens the same quality of life enjoyed by people in other EU countries.

When I moved here five months ago I asked the caretaker of my building whether I should separate my family’s rubbish. He laughed and looked incredulous. “Are you joking?” he said. “This is Rome.”

We know that Athens is up in flames lets hope that the waste recycling systems they’ve in place haven’t contributed.  More from the office at BuilderScrap.com on Recycling around the world, todays country is Greece.

In the cramped offices of the Ecological Recycling Society in central Athens, Philip Kirkitsos hits us with some alarming statistics.

Every year, he says, one billion plastic drinking water bottles are thrown away in Greece, along with one billion soft drinks bottles and yet another billion plastic containers for cleaning fluids.

Almost one-fifth of the entire waste produced by this country is plastic, and yet just 1% of it is recycled. Greece, he admits, is at least 15 years behind the rest of the EU in almost all areas of recycling and is unlikely to meet EU targets for next year.

In Athens the recycling bins so common in most European cities are a rare sight. Although recently the authorities have launched new schemes, the impact so far seems to be minimal.

Recycling just is not high on the list of priorities for the average Athenian.

Most bags of household waste contain large amounts of glass, metal, paper and plastic which end up being dumped at the city’s only landfill which – not surprisingly – is now almost full.

As a result, the capital currently faces an acute waste management crisis because no alternative sites have been set up.

Ironically the city does have what is believed to be Europe’s largest recycling plant, built next to the landfill four years ago. But the plant – estimated to have cost at least 75m euros (£50m) – has stood idle.

The reason? It was badly damaged by a mountain of rubbish which collapsed on top of it.

Todays BuilderScrap.com question for the draft proposal. What do you guys think?

Q: New measures to stimulate action from companies to improve resource efficiency are proposed. Please prioritise these proposals and identify quick win opportunities with high impact.

1. There was a broad level of support for measures proposed. Many respondents ranked all five measures in order while others highlighted those to which they attached particular importance. The results are set out in the table below (NB: as details have been added from those who did not rank all responses, rows do not necessarily add up to the same figure).

Numbers of respondents     1st     2nd   3rd    4th      5th

Programme for
smaller contractors                2       0         2        2        16

Halve amount of
construction waste at             3       0          7        9         3
site level by 2015

Manufacturers to
consider lifecycle of                4       8          6        4         0
Products

Designers/architects
to consider waste                   14      8          3        0         0
minimisation

Contractors and
Subcontractors to
reduce, reuse,                         6       9          4         4         1
recycle

2. Some of those who did not rank the measures commented that they were interlinking proposals which would all contribute to waste minimisation but that there was no single “silver bullet”. Some argued that more comprehensive data on waste, waste streams and recycled content material were necessary to underpin a successful waste action plan.

3. On design, there were various comments on the need for standard sizes, greater focus on off-site construction and/or the adoption of lean standards. A number of respondents argued for an extension of producer responsibility, particularly with regard to packaging, so that products could be considered over their life cycle. The importance of full life cycle assessments was highlighted. Others suggested that voluntary sectoral agreements could help deliver targets.

4. Other ideas included broadening the scope of codes of best practice to include more information on waste; greater use of WRAP processes; and greater education across the supply chain, possibly through resource programmes.

This weeks first instalment of the BuilderScrap sustainable construction draft responses…Enjoy!

Q: One aim of the proposal would be to create an integrated approach to maintain and where possible enhance biodiversity as a result of construction sector activity. Please say what you think would be helpful to companies in the construction sector to support the aims of maintaining and enhancing biodiversity.

1. One third of those who responded to this question cited the important role of the planning system in ensuring that biodiversity was taken into account in new developments. Better use might be made of the Planning Gain Supplement – or of Supplementary Planning Guidance – in implementing green infrastructure initiatives.

2. Just over a quarter of respondents identified the need for raising awareness of biodiversity issues and the role of training throughout the supply chain to improve understanding of how individual projects could contribute to biodiversity and the creation of public green space.

3. Just under a quarter of respondents cited the need for a simple guide, widely available, on biodiversity and for a list of quick wins on how to improve and protect biodiversity on projects. Many commented that there were already several relevant regulatory and good practice measures and requirements (e.g. Environmental Assessments, such as BREEAM and Biodiversity Action Plans) which might be included in the Strategy.

4. Some suggested that environmental assessment methodologies, such as BREEAM, could serve to enhance and measure biodiversity on sites. These tools could also be developed to provide credit for site-wide ecological enhancement. Environmental Management Plans such as BREEAM and Biodiversity Action Plans were existing mechanisms for helping the construction industry engage more effectively with conservation and biodiversity issues.

5. Some respondents suggested the Strategy should acknowledge the importance of a green infrastructure in delivering a range of social, environmental and economic benefits. Attenuating storm water run-off through the use of green roofs and green space was, for instance, seen as an important component of sustainable communities. To realise its full potential, considerations about the green infrastructure needed to be taken into account in development proposals from the outset.

6. Many respondents welcomed the proposal to convene a construction and building materials industry workshop. A result of this workshop might be a Draft Strategy for Sustainable Construction Chapter Title: Biodiversity set of guidance papers for the industry developed in partnership with a range of organisations such as local water authorities, Natural England, the Environment Agency, wildlife Trusts, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations), the Town and Country Planning Association, CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association), BSRIA, the Building Research Establishment, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and English Heritage.

7. Some respondents favoured a stronger emphasis on the natural environment in the targets for sustainable construction. Possible targets could be impacts on biodiversity which were neutral or enhancing (e.g. in terms of species and habitats), which could be measured through BREEAM or CEEQUAL (Civil Engineering Environmental Quality and Assessment Scheme).

8. Other suggested possibilities included:

The creation of habitat maps for particular species or wildlife in the area around a site;

Encouraging consultants and developers to increase habitat links in the area as a means of enhancing the biodiversity of the site;

Options to contribute to biodiversity projects offsite; and

The development of Site Biodiversity Action Plans for projects over a certain value (say £1m).

Respondents also pointed out that initial site surveys of biodiversity could be time-sensitive (subject to seasonal variations) and delay development considerably..

The second part of the Zero-Carbon Homes article we have been reading here at BuilderScrap, looks at what the measures for these homes actually mean.

02 / What do these measures mean?
Measure
Energy efficiency
Carbon compliance
(the minimum level of reduction in CO2 emissions that must be achieved on site and/or through direct connection of low/zero carbon heat
Allowable solutions
(a range of options for dealing with the residual CO2 emissions not tackled by on-site renewable energy generation and/or direct connection to low/zero-carbon heat)
Achieved how?
Improved insulation, low-energy lighting, high efficiency pumps, fans
Limited application of renewable energy and/or connection to district heating to achieve a minimum level of reduction in CO2 emissions
Any or all of the following …
• On-site renewable energy generation
• Installation of energy efficient appliances/building control systems
• Exports of low-carbon or renewable heat (or cooling) to surrounding developments
• S106 planning obligations towards allowable solutions
• Retrofitting of existing buildings in the locality
• Investments in LZC energy infrastructure (benefits of ownership transferred to homebuyer)
• Offsite renewable electricity connected via direct physical connection
• Any other measures announced by government

These measures can work towards achieving sustainable construction of zero carbon homes.  The third part of this article looks at the issues involved – coming soon!

Yet again we find ourselves here at BuilderScrap.com delving deeper into the draft for sustainable construction. Today’s question focuses on the construction industries reaction to climate change, and the respondents varying opinions.

Q: Are there other actions that the Government should be taking to help the construction industry rise to the challenge of climate change?

1. Although a wide variety of suggestions were offered by respondents to this question, the vast majority (about 75%) were concentrated around just 10 themes.

2. Many respondents said that the existing stock of buildings (mostly domestic, but there were also some references to non-domestic buildings) needed to be improved, though there were few suggestions as to how this should be accomplished. The focus was on improving energy efficient performance of these buildings, rather than on adaptation.

3. Approximately 7% of responses urged the establishment of climate change adaptation targets.

4. Respondents urged the promotion of specific technologies, e.g. the generation of energy from renewable sources; use of particular products, sometimes with higher thermal mass; or innovations to make building more adaptable to future climate change.

5. Some respondents thought more information should be provided by Government on these issues. A number sought clearer definitions by Government, e.g. on Zero Carbon and carbon neutrality. Some suggested fiscal incentives.

6. Some responses urged improvements in compliance software; improvements in tools such as BREEAM; and recommended defining a standard for carbon counting.

7. Other areas which attracted comments were: a need to address embodied energy in carbon footprints; a need to focus on non-domestic buildings; tightening the planning system; sponsoring more research; and infrastructure considerations.