Aug 19 2003
The Greenwich Millennium Village has reduced it’s onsite construction waste by more than 50% and in the process saved £150,000 on skip costs.
Lessons learnt in waste reduction have resulted two newly-published guides on the reduction, re-use and recycling of construction waste. Jointly published by Greenwich Millennium Village Limited, Hanson Environment Fund, Richard Hodkinson Consultancy and BRE, one of the guides is aimed at site managers and the other at project managers.
Essential actions for significantly reducing waste identified in the guides include:
- measuring the underlying causes of waste
- establishing a waste reduction strategy
- oblige sub-contractors to co-operate in waste minimisation
- communicate regularly with all sub-contractors and site operatives
- partner with a waste management contractor
- engage the whole supply chain
- design to reduce waste
- segregate waste streams
- compact waste and load skips carefully
- re-use and recycle waste where possible
- ensure good housekeeping
- plan for higher volumes of waste in the final construction stages.
Other areas of waste minimisation include requiring suppliers to provide returnable packaging, waste minimisation courses and recycling used formwork into landscaping mulch.
Source: BRE