how-to-control-the-risks-and-the-costs-v3

2 How to Control the Risks and the Costs of Waste Management
3
How to Control the Risks
and the Costs of Waste
Management
Six common challenges that construction managers face in
managing waste on site — and how to deal with them
effectively
Do you find that the longer term risks of construction
projects get more attention than the ones that crop
up on site? The risks of construction waste are
particularly easy to overlook, but can prove costly.
Here is our guide to six common risks and
costs of construction waste management, and
how to plan for them.
Managing your waste streams
Failure to sort, store and remove
waste in an efficient manner can
create safety hazards on site,
slow down your project, and
leave you sending more waste to
landfill. This will ultimately eat into
your bottom line.
The production of a site waste
management plan (SWMP) is no
longer required by law in England,
but is still regarded as best
practice. A SWMP may still be
required by your client or planning
authority, or by environmental
standards such as BREEAM.
Rather than seeing it as a burden,
look at your SWMP as an
opportunity to deal with waste in
an efficient and environmentally
responsible manner, to save on
landfill costs, and to enhance the
reputation of your business.
Your SWMP should estimate
how much of each waste type is
likely to be produced, describe
how these waste streams will be
managed properly, and how you
will maximise reduction, reuse
and recycling. It should specify
how skips and containers will be
positioned safely on site, and how
often they will be collected.
The plan should describe who is
responsible for managing different
waste streams at different stages.
Appointing a waste management
champion can help everyone
to maintain focus and provide
leadership on site.
WRAP has produced useful
guidance on preparing SWMPs.
You may also wish to outsource
your waste management planning
to an expert provider. Reconomy
currently diverts an average of
93% of waste from landfill on the
sites it manages, and regularly
reaches 95%.
Your plan should also be reviewed
and updated during construction
to reflect realities on site. After
project delivery, review how
successful the plan was and take
any key lessons forward to future
jobs.
93%
of waste
from landfill
on the sites
it manages,
and regularly
reaches 95%.