Resource Efficiency Club makes £270,000 of Savings for East Midlands Companies

Responsible Solutions Ltd in partnership with EMCBE have just completed the second year of a successful Envirowise funded Resource Efficiency Club. The East Midlands Construction Resource Efficiency Club (REC) is a group of construction companies in the East Midlands that came together for advice and training on how to reduce waste and increase efficiency in their businesses.

The club had 13 core members during its second year, representing a varied group of construction companies who are active within the region. Between them the group represents a range of sectors including commercial and industrial builders (offices, leisure centres, industrial etc.), utilities infrastructure, civil engineering (highways, rail, etc) and social housing builders (new build, refurbishment).

Members of the club were entitled to a waste audit, a resource efficiency visit, access to a series of workshops and an in-house training session as part of their membership. Overall, the level of understanding on the complex nature of waste legislation has been mixed. It seems that organisations who have a dedicated member of staff committed to environmental management have a clearer understanding of their responsibilities. We also found that as a whole there was a lack of understanding on the hazardous waste regulations and the obligations that construction companies have.

One of the successes of the club has been a confirmation that the construction industry typically recycles well, the club has been able to build on this and encourage the reuse of waste, especially timber. We have also had success in promoting waste segregation practices and have been able to educate and influence the perceptions and ideas of the members. On top of this we were able to recommend savings that amounted to around £270,000, amounting to nearly £:600,000 for the two years that the club has been active. However, the savings do not stop here and if only 50% of the identified resource efficiency practices were rolled out across all the members projects conservative estimates suggest that savings in the region of £3.7 million could have been achieved by the club over the last 2 years.

A variety of initiatives have been adopted by the club members, from simple quick wins such as the waste segregation, the introduction of site waste management plans and the recycling of plasterboard. Other initiatives included the adoption of water saving devices and the re-use of timber via the National Community Wood Recycling Project.

The sector specific nature of the club is pivotal to its success because it enables the content of training and events to be tailored to meet the industry’s needs. For example, the WEEE workshop that took place 21st June 2007 focused on an action plan for the construction industry, which identified what contractors need to be doing to ensure compliance with these regulations. As far as we are aware this is the first of its kind and the first time that many contractors realised that they were affected by this regulation.

Overall the club assists in providing a pathway to help organisations move forward and maintain their legal compliance and more importantly be aware of industry best practice. If you are interested in being a part of the third year of the club for 2008/09 then contact us.

Site Waste Management Plans

There is no doubt that site waste management plans will have a big impact on the construction industry it may appear to be yet more work but they will bring benefits to many companies. Especially those who wouldn’t normally have looked at their waste management arrangements too closely, who realise that a well designed waste management plan can save them money.

Each year of the 400 million tonnes of solid materials used, only two-thirds is added to the building stock - the rest is consigned to landfill. This equates to millions of pounds being lost, needlessly.

In addition to it being a legal requirement for projects of a certain size, there are many benefits to implementing site waste management plans. You will be able to pass on savings and a reduced risk to your clients, confident that your waste management system is minimising cost and risk. With environmental legislation on the increase you can be sure that you will be compliant with any future contractual requirements.

We can help your company to handle your waste in a legally compliant and efficient way. We will direct you to where the savings are to be made and equip you to produce site waste management plans for all your projects in the future. We offer open training workshops and bespoke courses for individuals wanting to put on in house training. Our experience in the construction industry means we are best placed to provide quality training on Site waste management plans.

See the fliers for more details or contact us and we can let you know how we can help you.

SWMP-Open-Course.pdf      SWMP-Bespoke-Course.pdf

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