There’s no surprise that refurbishment and building works are big producers of waste. There are legal requirements in place and for the success of a project, it’s vital to have an effective and efficient construction waste management plan.
Site Waste Management Plans (SWMP) were required for construction projects over £300,000 that included construction, maintenance and alteration work. They may no longer be a requirement legally, but for certain accreditations and some local planning authorities, they are necessary. Either way, at Yes Waste we believe that considerate and responsible construction can benefit from a concrete plan for dealing with construction waste.
Why should you have a plan for construction waste?
Having a solid construction waste management plan can help you to save time, avoid potential prosecution and win more business in the future by enhancing your reputation. The cost of waste can be as much as £43 per square meter in an average build project, planning ahead can help save costs.
Tips for construction waste management
- Identify categories of waste that will be generated over the course of your project. This could include packaging waste, rubble, building materials, plasterboard, paint and many other types of waste. At the planning stage of your project, you can find materials with returnable packaging options and pre order materials to spec to reduce waste. This is also the time to ensure that you have any necessary permits for various types of waste, such as an agreement from your water and sewage operator for effluent discharge.
- Ensure your team, subcontractors and people working on site are aware of the plans and who is responsible for dealing with the construction waste. Those responsible for waste have a duty to make sure that construction sites are kept clear and tidy for health and safety reasons. Avoiding slips, accidents or anything becoming a hazard is critical. It’s also important that waste is kept away from areas that can spill over into public walk ways or be in easy access for fly tipping.
- Work out how best to manage your construction waste. The different types of waste will require different methods of disposal. What can be reused, what can be recycled and how you will store waste to avoid it getting mixed up. Asking these questions early on will help manage waste effectively through the duration of your project. You can set out an area for storing waste away from new materials or that could be in the way of the project. Use different containers for the types of waste making sure not to mix up types of waste. Colour coding waste containers or labelling them clearly can help, it will save you time when it comes to removing the rubbish down the line.
- When you know what types of waste you will accumulate, who’s responsible and how to manage the waste, you can look at where and how to get rid of it. If you use wait and load services or man and van removal services, you must ensure the providers are a licensed waste carrier and supply you with a Waste Transfer Note to stay on the right side of the law.
- One final tip, we suggest recording and measuring the types of waste and how much waste is generated. This will help with your next project to make improvements and become even more efficient at construction waste management.
Our wait and load services can deal with a large majority of your construction waste removal needs and we’re able to help with electrical waste and some hazardous materials.
Contact us to discuss your project and requirements to see where and how we can help.
