Site Waste Will Cost You More Than Money

The statistics about site waste are staggering:

• The average cost of waste thrown away in a skip is ten times the cost of the skip itself
• In a typical construction project the cost of waste can be as much as £43/m2
• 10 million tonnes of construction products are waste every year at a cost of £1.5 billion

The cost of site waste can be measured in more than financial terms. It damages the environment and it damages your reputation.

While it is no longer a legal obligation for construction companies to have a formal Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) for projects over £300,000, it is essential that you protect yourself from allegations of environmental degradation and treating the areas in which you work with disrespect. If you have a viable SWMP in place, you will also have a competitive advantage in the tendering process.

There are 10 basic steps you can take to minimise site waste that should form the backbone of your SWMP:

• Have a clear structure to your SWMP with a designated person taking overall responsibility for its effectiveness
• Ensure your SWMP is formally agreed between client and contractor
• Avoid over-ordering material and choose the materials you order with your SWMP in mind
• Maintain meticulous records
• Provide your staff with incentives for minimising waste
• Eliminate as much waste as you can
• Reduce the waste you can’t eliminate
• Segregate as much waste as possible to reduce landfill charges
• Recycle what you can’t re-use
• Take responsibility for your own site waste and don’t expect someone else to clean up after you!

While these steps protect your profits and your reputation on a job-by-job basis, the only way to ensure they are successful in the long-term is to create a culture within your business where managing site waste is as important as every other aspect of a construction project. This means having a structured training programme that deals with the reasons why a SWMP is important as well as how to make it work on a practical level.

At FixFirm, our customers’ reputation matters to us, which is why we help them minimise site waste.

Our understanding of the importance of site waste and how to manage it means we are happy to advise our customers if we think they are over-ordering or in any way setting themselves up for a potential problem with waste at some point during the life of the project. For example, we will minimise both the number of orders placed and the number of deliveries to site. This reduces the administrative burden on our clients and helps streamline their waste management programme. 

We also make waste segregation easy with products such as rubble sacks, one-ton bags and waste segregation signs.

Above all, we provide a fast, efficient ordering system, which means every customer can get what they want when they want, without ever having to order more or less than they need.

For more information about how we help you minimise waste call us on 0800 594 44 44 or email hello@fixfirm.com