Clackmannanshire Council Online

Construction Waste

Construction Waste

This guide is intended for use by professional builders, developers and tradesmen. Using good waste management practice on site will help your organisation to comply with environmental legislation, reduce your costs and assist in creating a positive image of your business.

This guide is also intended to help builders/developers meet their obligations under the Council's Supplementary Development Advice Note - Managing Waste in Housing and Commercial Developments.

Good Practice on Site

Buying and Storing Materials

• Order the amount of materials you need as accurately as possible;
• Arrange for 'just in time' deliveries to reduce storage and material losses;
• Consider the source of materials (Is the company certified with environmental standards? Quality materials and recycled materials may prove cheaper).
• Consider the packaging used for materials delivered to the site -can this be reduced or recycled.
• Ensure that deliveries are rejected if damaged or incomplete
• Make sure storage areas are safe, secure and weatherproof (where required)
• Store liquids away from drains, burns and in bunded areas to prevent pollution.

Site Activities

• Ensure options for the use of reclaimed and recycled construction materials, that meet the materials specification are considered.
• Recycle suitable spoil, demolition materials, prunings, and surplus construction material arising from the works on site to avoid the need to transport materials.
• Keep the site tidy to reduce material losses and waste.

Training and awareness

• Promote good practice awareness as part of health and safety induction / training for workers onsite.

Waste Segregation

• Segregate different types of waste as they are generated using different skips where possible (given the space available). At a minimum there should be skips for wood, inert and mixed materials, although a skip for metals may generate some income. If there is a shortage of space and not enough room for multiple skips get a licensed waste management company to deal with waste - they may be able to recover recyclate materials from mixed skips.

Staying on the right side of the law

• Complete waste transfer notes before any waste leaves the site
• Ensure all waste carriers have a valid waste carriers registration certificate
• Ensure all wastes are disposed of at a correctly licensed site
• Complete notification for hazardous waste to SEPA (tel: 03000 99 66 99)

Useful sources and how they can help

Zero Waste Scotland

Zero Waste Scotland offers the construction sector a number of sector specific tools which aim to help you to reduce the amount of waste produced, save on the cost of waste disposal, re-use and recycle more where possible, and make the most efficient use of resources.

The Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA)

CIRIA are a not for profit organisation developing Best Practice in the UK Construction sector. CIRIA is constantly developing a programme of seminars, through the Construction Industry Environmental Forum (CIEF) to disseminate examples of best practice in the industry, as well as developing its own training packs.

Netregs

Details of all the legislation and process guidance relevant to the Construction & Demolition can be obtained from the NetRegs website. This is a joint agency website containing the legislation for all four of the home nations in the UK. It covers legislation and guidance for all major industry sectors.

Building Research Establishment (BRE)

SmartWaste - a tool to allow auditing processes for demolition and construction projects. With a hand-held facility to enable site and building surveys, this tool collects data in a downloadable format, providing functionality for chart and report production. The system can then be used to identify the main waste streams on-site and to facilitate waste management plans. A useful development in the system is the interaction with the BRE website where data from individual companies is added to a database, allowing benchmarking against national averages etc.

Resource Directory

The Wood Recyclers' Association (WRA)

The WRA is the official trade association for the wood recycling sector. It enables member companies to maximise business and commercial opportunities as well as providing representation to Government and other regulatory authorities.

The Construction Material Exchange

Do you have construction materials you don't need but don't want to pay for disposal? Alternatively are you looking for construction materials that might be available for reuse in your area? Members of the Construction Materials Exchange can list material available as well as material needed.
Try and find a re-use match on the Construction Materials Exchange. It saves you landfill charges and reduces waste.