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SPECIAL REPORT never WaSte an opportunity Although waste is an accepted by-product of many human activities, we are growing increasingly aware of the issues related to our waste production, such as waste minimisation, reuse, recycling and processing. Without due consideration to these issues we are in danger of literally turning our planet into a rubbish heap. The exact figure for waste produced in the UK each year varies significantly across the various sources, with some suggesting that the figure is as high as 100 million tonnes of waste each year 1 ! 26 August 2010 The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) state that for every one tonne of household waste produced, a further six tonnes is created within commercial, industrial and construction business. They further claim that manufacturers could save up to 1% of turnover through the use of simple, yet effective, techniques to minimise waste, such as reduced packaging. The recycling information centre www.recyle-more.co.uk 2 state that some 30 million tones of household waste is produced each year so multiply this by six to include industrial waste as per DEFRA’s figures, then the total waste produced could be as high as 210 million tonnes of waste produced each year – a huge figure by any standard! Worryingly, of this 30 million tonnes of household waste, approximately 6.7 million tonnes is attributed to food waste – given an expanding global population and anticipated food shortages (the so called food security issue 3 ), this figure of food waste is a major concern for organisations such as Oxfam. Indeed, Oxfam stated in 2009 that 1 billion people need help right now to resolve the global food crisis. Given the aforementioned, a massive depletion of natural resources, food security, an exponential growth in the global human population (fuelled in turn by an aging population and higher birth rates) and consequential environmental “everyone’s talking about it!” SPECIAL REPORT concerns, the UK and other governments around the world are in the process of implementing strict waste management regulations. This push to conserve resources has inadvertently created a boom in the increasingly profitable recycling industry – some would even suggest that recycling is becoming the 21st century’s equivalent to a gold rush! Re-use or recycle construction materials? Fashion can be a powerful force for good in a green revolution because bricks, steel, glass and many other products can simply be deconstructed and reused on other projects. Consider the high profile London Olympics 2012 which have specifically designed structures that can be de-constructed and rebuilt elsewhere after the games – moreover many of the components for the main stadium have already been reused from the oil and gas industry. The official London 2012 website 4 claims: “We aspire to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 in compliance with the British Standard for Sustainable Events (BS 8901). As part of this approach we must ensure that the events we host leading up to the Games are as sustainable as possible. We have published our Sustainability Guidelines for Corporate and Public Events to help us. A key aspect to our Guidelines, and indeed our approach to the Games overall, is ensuring that we only use or hire what we need.”
On the domestic front, we should not discount the vogue for old reclaimed bricks and roofing tiles to give new homes and gardens that rustic look and feel. Other materials such as asphalt and concrete often cannot be re-used without first processing the material – a procedure that involves breaking, removing, crushing and screening the concrete into materials of a specified size and quality. Once processed, the screened material can be used for a wide range of applications including general bulk fill, drainage, road base, embankments and road barriers and so on. 1 www.recyclezone.org.uk/iz_ wastefacts.aspx 2 www.recycle-more.co.uk/nav/ page2129.aspx 3 www.oxfam.org/pressroom/ pressrelease/2009-01-26/global-foodcrisis-will-worsen-1bn-hungry-peopleneed-help 4 www.london2012.com/index.php For more information about waste management visit: www.environment-agency. gov.uk/business/topics/ waste/default.aspx www.defra.gov.uk/ Environment/waste/ Case study Flannery Plant Hire (Oval) Ltd In tackling the issues of waste production we cannot just rely on the megaprojects such as the London Olympics 2012; we must also turn to the many smaller enterprises and organisations throughout industry who can make an invaluable contribution to waste reduction. Indeed there are a growing number of organisations who are adopting best practice to address their own waste production but also exploiting the opportunities that are available in the area. Whilst considering how the construction industry is dealing with waste, let us take a snapshot look at Flannery Plant Hire (Oval) Limited who are now helping to keep London clean and productive by recycling construction waste. About three years ago the company opened a recycling plant to take Special reports, Latest news, Worldwide distribution & Expert opinions SPECIAL REPORT advantage of a yard that came up for sale next to their present offices in north London. Patrick Flannery said: “We saw an opportunity to become greener as a company on one hand but open up a new business opportunity on the other. So we purchased mobile crushers and screeners and can now crush and screen to any specification required from type 1 and 2 to oversized, reject sand, recycled shingle and so on. As an incentive to hauliers, we offer a free tip for clean concrete although there is a charge if the material is not so clean – mainly because of costly tipping charges today. The business has grown and today we recycle about 5,000 tonnes of material per day and there is growing demand for our services.” As a company, Flannery Plant Hire certainly has its eyes firmly fixed on the growth and niche areas in which to operate – a sign of good entrepreneurs! More than that though, Patrick and his brother Martin have a real passion for the job and the industry that they serve. For industrialised nations to implement government targets for waste reduction, we need firms like Flannery Plant Hire to take on initiatives and adopt new and novel practices of which, recycling is perhaps the current growth area for any economy. Without them, society would surely outstrip resources and our environment would be ruined. For further details, please contact: Flannery Plant Hire (Oval) Limited, Flannery House, Third Way, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 0EL T: +44 (0)870 6092187 F: +44 (0)20 8902 7357 E: info@flanneryplant.co.uk w: www.flanneryplant.co.uk August 2010 27
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