The voice of concrete products - British Precast

BRITISH PRECAST BEST PRACTICE AWARDS 2008
Sustainability
Award:
Corporate
Category
“The bags are
supplied in flatpacked
form,
which allows
them to be located
on-site close to
the point where
the block waste is
produced…saving
time and leading
to clean waste
that is ideal for
recycling.”
Tarmac Topblock – Take Back Scheme:
Tackling waste demands give and take
While there is a general recognition
of the need to create less waste, the
drivers for construction companies
become ever more tangible. This
article looks at the UK’s first national
block-recycling scheme and its clear
sustainability benefits for both customer
and supplier.
Trevor Grounds, Tarmac Building Products
The UK faces a major challenge to manage waste and
the construction industry as a contributing sector has a
huge responsibility to support national targets.
Construction and demolition is the single largest user
of material resources in the economy and accounts for
around 33% of controlled waste in the UK (over 100 million
tonnes a year), making it the single largest stream.
Although around half of the 90 million tonnes of inert
waste within this figure is recycled as aggregates, there is
still a need to do more.
During 2008, Government has rightly set tough waste
targets for our industry. In June, the Government and the
Strategic Forum for Construction published their joint
Strategy for Sustainable Construction (1) , which includes
the challenging target of 50% reduction of construction,
demolition and excavation waste to landfill by 2012
compared to 2008 levels. Site Waste Management Plans
(SWMPs), which became compulsory in April this year
for all projects over £300,000, have set-out a practical
mechanism for contractors to manage waste effectively.
A SWMP is also a mandatory element of the Code for
Sustainable Homes.
In the near future, sending waste to landfill will come
at an even higher price, thanks to the landfill tax where the
standard rate for non-inert material is due to hit £48/tonne
in 2010–11.
Add these potentially crippling waste disposal costs to
the rising price of raw materials and the business case for
recycling products in order to conserve energy and virgin
aggregates becomes even more compelling.
Recognising the inherent recyclability of concrete, a
group of Tarmac employees within its concrete block division,
Topblock, identified a way to help both customers
and the company meet the need to reduce waste and use
materials more effectively by proposing a site collection
scheme for unused and offcut product.
In 2007, the Tarmac Topblock Take Back Scheme was
launched in partnership with HIPPOWASTE, the national
provider of innovative and integrated waste management
solutions. The scheme ensures that Topblock customers,
such as national and regional housebuilders can take
advantage of a nationwide service to remove and recycle
their block waste.
Customers purchase labelled 1m 3 HIPPOBAGS into
which broken and off-cut blocks on site can be segregated
(cost penalties are included to discourage indiscriminate
use of the bags for non-segregated materials).
The bags are supplied in flat-packed form, which
allows them to be located on-site close to the point where
the block waste is produced. This encourages direct segregation
at the point of production, saving time and leading
to clean waste, which is ideal for recycling.
When ten or more bags are full, HIPPOWASTE collects
and transfers them to either a recycling facility operated
by Tarmac Recycling Limited (TRL) or an appropriate
Topblock plant – which minimises journeys and reduces
carbon emissions. The recycled aggregates produced by
Figure 1: The Take Back
Scheme was launched
in partnership with
waste management
firm HIPPOWASTE.
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Reproduced f ro m CONCRETE December 2008/January 2009 © The Concrete So c i e t y, 2008