Want to Save More? Then Throw Away Less Construction Firms Urged to Cut Out the Waste

By BARRY McDONALD

SMALL-TO-MEDIUM construction firms could save more money – by throwing away less.

Research by environmental consultants Envirowise has estimated that Scotland’s 12,000-plus construction firms could be throwing away as much as 20-per cent of their building materials completely unused every year, generating three times as much waste as householders.

A total of 13million tonnes of unused building materials is discarded in the UK as waste every year.

This equates to 5.4 billion bricks – enough to build 490,000 houses.

To help Scots companies tackle this issue, Envirowise has launched a new service designed to help construction firms cut down on waste.

Those signing up to the Firm Foundations initiative will be eligible for a free, confidential on-site waste review, advice on developing and implementing a site waste management plan, and free access to a waste minimisation helpline plus a range of guides.

Envirowise programme manager for Scotland Alan Hendry said: “There are huge savings to be made in the construction sector, both financial and environmental.

“This is particularly relevant at the moment, as the high price of oil is threatening to increase the cost of basic materials such as bricks.

“Our aim is to work with construction firms of all sizes in Scotland to help them see the benefit of improved resource efficiency, so that they can start to make savings immediately.

“Ultimately, this would be good news for builders, house buyers and the environment.”

The company is working in partnership with Laing O’Rourke Scotland, offering free advice to 40 of their suppliers to help identify potential savings.

So far, 20 of Laing O’Rourke’s suppliers have had a visit from Envirowise and this has resulted in more than GBP380,000 of savings.

The Envirowise programme – which is available free of charge to any UK business – has saved UK industry over GBP1.3billion since 1994.

Operations manager, Jamie Pitcairn, added: “It’s in their best interest to make sure waste isn’t created.

“A lot of these measure are very simple yet highly effective and can bring companies great financial rewards. By minimising the amount of waste created, companies don’t have to pay for it to be disposed of by going to a landfill.”

barry. mcdonald@ eveningtimes. co. uk