Spec Finish

Sustainability In 2020, the Construction Leadership Council published its Zero Avoidable Waste in Construction report¹, which was funded by BEIS and carried out by the Green Construction Board in collaboration with Defra. It has a number of focused actions to reduce waste, including aspects related to fit-out. CONSTRUCTION PACKAGINGWASTE 18 www.thefis.org T HE report interprets zero avoidable waste (ZAW) in construction as ‘…preventing waste being generated at every stage of a project’s lifecycle, from the manufacture of materials and products, the design, specification, procurement and assembly of buildings and infrastructure through to deconstruction. At the end of life, products, components and materials should be recovered at the highest possible level of the waste hierarchy, i.e. reused before being recycled, whilst ensuring minimal environmental impact.’ This report highlights that in 2016 the construction and demolition industry was responsible for 30% (60 million tonnes) of the total waste stream in England (another 60 million tonnes is associated with excavation and dredging spoil). While 90% of construction and demolition waste is recovered, there are still five million tonnes sent to landfill every year. The waste generated from fit-out and refurbishment projects includes products such as plasterboard, doors and joinery, other waste is often generated from over ordering, damaged materials or rework. Plastic and pallets In addition, new materials brought to site are often wrapped in materials such as plastic packaging or pallets that end up in a skip. Figures fromWRAP estimate that in 2017, 2.3 million tonnes of packaging were placed on the market, approximately 65,000 tonnes of that came from the construction industry. On average, it is estimated that 34% of waste by volume from construction sites is actually packaging waste². However, it is acknowledged that products brought to fit-out or refurbishment sites might need more protective packaging than the materials used for structural work, which might be delivered in bulk (e.g. concrete) – potentially bringing this percentage value up. Mixed waste Penny McCallum, Environmental Manager at FIS member, BW: Workplace Experts, agrees that fit-out projects are inherently more complex to manage in respect to waste. Sites often have quick turnarounds and the pace is very fast, meaning that many trades work simultaneously and waste streams are mixed. Space on site for waste storage and segregation is very limited, and sites often use wheelie bins which have to be collected frequently and, therefore, end up being filled with all types of waste. She said: “Even if waste types are segregated on site, to reduce transport emissions, waste contractors will often mix our waste with other sites’ waste when it is collected. This leads to less accurate reporting, as our waste reports can often only demonstrate the average performance of the waste contractor. So, determining the success of individual project initiatives from this alone is incredibly difficult. You cannot manage what Flavie Lowres, FIS Sustainability Champion