Monitor effectiveness and cost savings
The good news is that it’s relatively easy to start improving your performance – and benefiting your bottom line.
For example, WRAP (Waste Resource Action Programme) estimates that 13 million tonnes of material that becomes construction and demolition waste is discarded without being used and that by eliminating the over-order, "just-in-case (JIC) culture would save five landfill sites a year.
Waste typically costs businesses up to 4% of turnover. for example, AMEC, an engineering consultancy, estimates that for an 8 cu yd skip the actual costs are £1, 343 - made up as follows:
Skip Hire
£ 85
Labour to fill skip
£ 163
Cost of materials put in skip
£1,095
Case Studies
Cost savings from controlling pallet movements*
Kier Eastern’s quantity surveyor recognised that significant cost savings could be achieved on a multi-million pound mixed housing and commercial development at Ravenswood, Ipswich, by putting in place a few simple measures to control the movement of pallets on-site.
A dedicated storage area for all returnable pallets was set up. A member of the site team was made responsible for ensuring that all returnable pallets were returned to this area. This ensured these pallets were not used on-site and subsequently damaged.
Non-returnable pallets were also identified and these were set aside for use in moving materials around site. Damaged pallets were repaired where practicable and those beyond repair were placed in a segregated skip for timber, which is sent for recycling.
The average deposit on a returnable pallet is £12.50 and, to date, 344 pallets have been returned, delivering a cost saving of £4,300. Previously, a number of pallets would have ended up in the mixed waste skip, so not only would the company have lost its deposit, but it would have incurred an unnecessary disposal cost.
The scheme also has environmental benefits, as it reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill and returning pallets avoids the need for new ones to be manufactured, saving on natural resources.
Minimising waste in the first place
Joe McNulty, MD of Integra Ltd, primary driver for instigating recycling was enhancing Integra’s corporate profile. He thought a small recycling project might help them define themselves as a forward-thinking company, as well as making a positive contribution to the environment. It started as a nil-cost transaction, supporting a local co-operative who recycle wood instead of paying to skip it. Joe soon realised that Integra’s relationship with the company was winning them business. Not only that, but the recycling scheme was going down well with Integra’s staff. The firm started to look for ways to recycle other materials, further reducing the amount of waste that went to landfill.
Joe gives the example of a piece of plyboard. The cost of the material might be minimal: let’s say £6. But by Joe’s calculations, the cost of ordering that piece of board, having it delivered, moving it round the site to get it out of the way, stopping it being stolen, making sure no one falls over it and sending it to landfill is probably nearer £60. And by using this as a springboard to process improvement, Integra found they could save even more. As Joe said “What’s in the skip – the bit you can see – is really just the tip of the iceberg. Underneath the waste is inefficiency.” Why was the board in the skip at all? Training strategies were put in place to avoid over-purchase in the first place facilitating significant savings on materials costs, as well as making an even greater impact on the firm’s environmental performance.
