Figures which have been released by WRAP in its Signatory Report 2011 have shown a significant decreased in the amount of materials in construction and demolition waste being sent to landfill.

The figures come from 32 construction contractors who have signed up to the Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment which is coordinated by WRAP.

Signatories are encouraged to register their baseline and targets within WRAP’s Waste to Landfill Reporting Portal.

The 32 construction contractors monitored and reported their annual performance for construction, demolition and excavation (CD&E) waste.

Those participating in the commitment are some of the UK’s largest contractors and represent a total construction annual spend in excess of £21 billion over the reporting period.

The figures from all 32 companies show an absolute decrease of 28% in the CD&E waste sent to landfill between 2008 and 2009. This constitutes a cut from 3.1 million tonnes in 2008 to 2.2 million tonnes by year end 2009.

The data also showed that the companies had less waste arising relative to construction spend, which indicates that the companies are taking action to prevent building materials becoming waste.

WRAP CEO, Dr Liz Goodwin, said, “Today’s Halving Waste to Landfill figures are just the beginning and give me confidence that industry is working hard and well on track to deliver the target by 2012.”

“In just over two years the Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment has gone from zero to influencing nearly £38 billion worth of construction projects.”

“This demonstrates that the commitment requirements are being embedded within industry and this is delivering great results for business and the environment.”

Currently there are 602 signatories to the Commitment with 280 registered to use the WRAP Waste to Landfill Reporting Portal.  BuilderScrap hopes many more sign up to this commitment to help create a sustainable construction industry.

BuilderScrap sourced this article from Edie.

Caroline Spelman the Environment Secretary has announced a complete review of how rubbish is disposed of in Britain, she promised a “zero waste economy”

She also went on to speak about how biodegradable waste, like food could no longer be allowed to just rot in landfill. This move could will most likely lead to councils introducing some sort of slop bucket for waste food to be collected separately.

Mrs Spelman also went on to say that aluminium, glass and paper can not be allowed to landfill if we are to reach our goals.

“We need a new approach to waste,” she said as she announced the review yesterday. “We cannot keep putting recyclable and biodegradable material into landfill.”

Doretta Cocks of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection said that many households did not want slop buckets because of the odour and the danger of attracting wildlife.

Wrap, the Government’s waste watchdog, said that in areas where separate food collections have already been introduced — roughly half the councils in England — people have reported a high level of satisfaction.

Another press release from WRAP has highlighted several major companies, including Asda and Laing O’Rourke, who have signed up to WRAP’s Halving Waste from Landfill commitment.

The targets are to halve the amount of construction waste send to landfill by 2012. The agreement has been signed by both clients and contractors.

Commenting on its rationale for signing up to Halving Waste to Landfill, Barry Springgay, Construction Director at ASDA said: “By making a concrete pledge to send zero construction waste to landfill from both our store and depot operations by the end of 2010, we’re pioneering a cleaner, smarter way of working.

“By auditing exactly what materials are needed for each building project and segregating any waste that’s produced so that it can be reused or recycled, we’re expecting to save more than £1m a year, and divert 12,000 tonnes from landfill annually.”

Site Waste Management Plans are one way to monitor and predict waste outputs, and along with better, smarter ordering, waste should be kept to a minimum. Where products can be, they should be reused. If this isn’t possible, or BuilderScrap can be used to pass on any items to someone who can reuse them.

To read the original press release, click here

A press release issued by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) discusses a new funding programme to help Welsh businesses lower the amount of waste sent to landfill. The first phase of funding is available to companies tackling commercial food waste, for example food factories and ready meal manufacturers, and waste from construction, demolition and excavation.

For Construction, Demolition & Excavation waste, funding is available to create new recycling or reprocessing facilities or expand and improve existing ones. It also covers collection and mobile processing equipment . Projects planning to install additional processing or separation equipment can also apply.

All facilities must be located in Wales and to be eligible to apply, projects must meet WRAP’s requirements. For this round of applications, a signed contract with WRAP must be in place by 31 August 2009 with the project up and running by 31 December 2010.

Those applying need to demonstrate that their planned project could not go ahead without the funding and that it is commercially viable in the medium to long term.

For more information, and to view the original article visit WRAP’s website or email capital.suport@wrap.org.uk

This press release issued by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) discusses their major new initiative to halve the amount of waste the construction industry sends to landfill by 2012.

Liz Goodwin, Chief Executive of WRAP stressed the opportunity that waste reduction presents in the current economic climate: “Waste by its very definition is a missed opportunity. Indeed, the true cost of waste is over 10 times higher than the cost of disposal, once the value of the wasted materials is taken into account.”

This is exactly the point we at BuilderScrap are trying to convey. We are trying to encourage the industry to view waste as a resource – by utilising this website to reuse surplus materials where possible you can benefit from reduced costs and potential revenue.

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