The end word

1. Give due consideration to waste in the planning stages. Use a site waste management plan and consider the different options for waste management on site. There are many different options and choosing the best one depends on the size of the site, what kind of project it is and the amount of storage space.

2. Foster awareness across the whole supply chain, from architects and engineers to subcontractors and manufacturers. Get everyone thinking about what they can do to reduce waste and recycle waste materials, and write waste management conditions into contracts.

3. Make waste management part of the induction, training and toolbox talks on site.

4. Send your recycling to a transfer station for waste segregation. Look at the recycling rate at the station – make sure they aren’t just taking out a few bits and pieces and bulking the rest up for landfill.

5. Consider segregating the materials yourself on site, to give cleaner waste to the transfer station. Have one container for each trade to throw their waste in – so there’s one for bricks, one for plasterboard and so on.