WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change. This helps to minimise landfill, reduce carbon emissions and improve our environment.

WRAP’s Construction Programme is working with the sector, its clients and the supply chain to halve the amount of waste sent to landfill by 2012. In consultation with industry, WRAP is providing a clear process for the supply chain to work towards this key target for both economic and environmental benefit.

Meeting this target – proposed in Defra’s Waste Strategy for England and BERR’s Strategy for Sustainable Construction – will mark a significant step towards the longer-term goal of zero waste to landfill for the UK, an objective already announced by the Scottish government.

Actively supporting the commitment by halving waste to landfill will increase profits, performance, sustainability credentials, and customer loyalty.

WRAP is working with a wide range of forward-thinking organisations to create the change required to reduce the environmental impact of sending around 25 million tonnes of construction waste to landfill each year; creating far-reaching operational benefits, cutting both carbon and costs.

Wherever you operate in the construction cycle, WRAP is confident that it will be able to add value to the way you do business.

Pre-design/planning

  • Strategy and policy on waste management and recycled content
  • Sustainable procurement strategies
  • Working with supply chains
  • Project planning

Project design

  • Product specification
  • Using design to minimise waste in production and on site
  • Offsite manufacture
  • Packaging

Project delivery

  • Recovery and reuse of materials
  • Recycling strategies
  • Site waste management
  • Materials purchasing and management
  • Logistics
  • Setting targets and measuring performance

Returning materials into the cycle

  • Recycling process improvement
  • Capital funding for innovation in recycling
  • Investment in manufacturing using recovered materials

WRAP provides:

Good practice guides

Advice on site waste management, demolition and recover of waste materials, and guidance on “quick wins” in using higher recycled content.

Recycled materials

Information on recycling and how to use recycled materials, particularly aggregates, the material most used in construction.

Procurement guidance

Practical guidance on the procurement process, including model clauses to incorporate in project briefs, tender and contract documentation.

Product information

A compendium of mainstream products with recycled content commonly used in construction.

Case studies

A huge range of case studies demonstrating the performance of recycled materials and what levels of recycled content are readily achievable across various types of construction.

Toolkits

Web-based tools to help assess and meet project requirements for recycled content, specify the use of recycled aggregates, and estimate the CO2 benefits of using recycled aggregates.

Training

In-house workshops and tutorials, provided selectively to projects and organisations that influence major capital expenditure.

Support for businesses

A range of business support targeted at the SME recycling sector, including management, expertise, investment and innovation.

Postscript

To find out more about any of WRAP’s events, tools, guidance and support, contact WRAP’s Construction Team on 0808 100 2040 or visit www.wrap.org.uk/construction.

The Wrap supplement 2008