A new voluntary waste reduction agreement for the UK construction sector promises not just to tick environmental boxes but bring significant financial savings to contractors.

WRAP’s (Waste & Resources Action Programme) Construction Commitments: Halving Waste to Landfill will be launched on October 16 to provide a framework for industry, its supply chain and clients to publicly commit to corporate targets to halve waste to landfill by 2012. This is a key target in the Strategy for Sustainable Construction and the Strategic Forum’s Construction Commitments published earlier this year.

Offered with the scheme is an online Net Waste Tool, which helps users to calculate waste created on construction projects and think of how to reduce it.

The tool forecasts that for a standard 3/4 bedroom house, 30 tonnes of construction waste is typically generated, which can be reduced to just 11 tonnes using best practice. This means that the value of leftover waste is reduced from £3,440 to £1,520, with a further £400 saved in disposal costs.

WRAP asserts that by moving from baseline to good practice, wastage rates of around 1% of construction costs can be saved on a typical project, making this a strong financial incentive for change, especially in the current economic climate.

Commenting on WRAP’s commitments, Dr Mike Watson, head of construction at WRAP, said: ‘Achieving the landfill target will only be made possible by adopting a co-ordinated approach across the supply chain. This voluntary agreement provides a supportive framework that will enable the industry to move in the same direction.’

Source

Construction Manager