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Thrust to cut building construction waste

One third of all the waste generated in the East of England is from the construction and demolition industry, with 21% of all hazardous waste generated by the industry as well.

With some 20,000 homes planned to be built in the East of England each year, the industry will be a significant contributor to the 7 million tonnes of waste currently generated in the region.

The construction and demolition industry as a whole can help to reduce this amount of waste and pressure on landfill capacity by taking simple steps on site which make economic, as well as environmental sense, says the Environment Agency. By reducing waste, companies can also reduce significant landfill taxes, minimising their costs as well as helping the environment.

The Sitewise campaign, run by the Environment Agency, was launched at Construction Day held at Newmarket last week and a series of workshops are also being run, starting in February 2004.

The workshops will help businesses involved in the construction industry pinpoint where they can make savings and run their sites more efficiently.

The campaign aims to encourage better waste management practices in the construction industry which will help minimise the huge amount of money spent by the industry on landfill tax.

The true cost of construction waste is around ten times the cost of disposal, when factors such as labour costs of handling and storing waste, purchase price of material thrown away and the loss of potential income from salvaged materials.

Companies are being asked to sign-up to the Sitewise campaign and can do so by requesting a Sitewise pack from the Environment Agency.

Eve Richards from the Environment Agency said, "The Sitewise campaign aims to involve everyone working with construction or demolition projects. We're very pleased with the wide range of interest we've had.”