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Reducing waste from your construction projects can benefit your business in a number of ways.

Meeting construction waste legal requirements

Reducing the amount of waste in your construction projects should make it easier to comply with waste legislation such as hazardous waste controls and your duty of care for business waste.

It should also help you meet other obligations and requirements including:

• planning and building regulations
• internal targets and policies, such as those in your environmental management system or corporate social responsibility policy

Implementing good environmental practices can also help you stay ahead of legal requirements and your competitors.

Lower costs and more business opportunities

You can cut your costs by using materials more effectively, reducing the amount of waste you need to dispose of and improving the efficiency of your staff and contractors. You may then be able to offer your services at a lower price to try and win more tenders.

Actively reducing waste from your construction projects can also differentiate your business from your competitors by becoming a 'green' builder. Clients who are aware of the impact that waste can have on their costs and public image are increasingly seeking to use contractors that understand and pursue reductions in waste.

Environmental benefits of reducing construction waste

The environmental benefits of reducing waste include:

• less waste going to landfill
• less use of natural resources
• lower greenhouse gas emissions - such as from producing, transporting and using materials and recycling or disposing of the waste materials
• lower risk of pollution incidents

On construction projects that require high levels of strip-out or demolition, you should plan how you could potentially reuse the waste. Demolition waste can often be reclaimed and reused as aggregates, and potentially (if care is taken during the demolition process) as whole materials - for example the reuse of reclaimed bricks.

You should apply good practice:

• in demolition - through the use of and site waste management plans
• in new build construction - through recycling and reuse, waste minimisation and site waste management
• between the demolition and new build phases through on-site reclamation and recycling of materials

Performing a pre-demolition audit can help you to identify any materials that can be recovered for reuse within the project itself or stockpiled for future construction projects. You should perform the audit at the design stage.

The earlier you perform the audit the better, as this information is invaluable to ensure that the recovery of these materials is part of the procurement process for demolition services.

One of the best ways to ensure your business minimises the waste on its construction projects is to get actively involved at the design stage. Designing out waste can be a highly effective way of cutting costs. Getting the design right for a new project may be the focus of the design team, but waste can be further reduced with input and insight from the principal contractor.

The hands-on, day-to-day experience of subcontractors can also be a valuable resource to the design team. Material specifications will be influenced by decisions made at this early stage.

Often small changes to a design can bring large waste reductions and, therefore, cost savings. These 'quick wins' can be achieved via a waste minimisation workshop where all interested parties can put their point of views forward and offer potential practical solutions.

Other, more radical alterations may be possible with negotiation with the client and design team.

One very important consideration, which is often overlooked, is to check that design solutions chosen by the architect or engineer are actually built as specified once the project is underway. You can achieve this through regular site checks.

Off-site construction

Many construction businesses now use off-site manufacture on their projects. It has a range of benefits compared to traditional build, including the potential to greatly minimise on-site waste. Through the substitution of a range of off-site construction methods, you could reduce on-site wastage by up to 90 per cent.

Although some waste will be transferred to the factory environment, the amount will be significantly reduced. In this environment there can also be greater opportunities for reuse or recycling.

The procurement of subcontractors and materials is critical to the success of your business' waste minimisation and management plans.

Procuring construction materials

Ensuring that you order the correct materials and quantities is an effective method of reducing construction waste. You could use specialist forecasting software to help you forecast accurately.

Where only estimates are available, you should supply as much detailed information as possible to the design team or supplier.

Engaging subcontractors to reduce construction waste

It is important to have buy-in by all contractors to your waste reduction initiatives. The pre-qualification process your business undertakes should include an assessment of the waste reduction capacity and competence of each subcontractor.

The contract should clearly state actions you want them to take, data and information you need from them and any targets you want them to meet. These should all be measurable.

A robust and comprehensive logistics plan is essential to reduce waste and cut costs on your construction site. You should carefully consider your project's logistics plan at an early stage.

A well-designed logistics plan can bring a number of benefits, including:

• reduced transportation of materials and equipment
• improved inventory control
• overall reductions in the quantities of waste
• health and safety benefits
• reduced traffic to and from the construction site

The logistics plan your business develops should form a core part of the overall site waste management plan. It should allow you to manage how waste is disposed of, and assess how costs and time taken can be reduced.

There are a number of ways of minimising waste through efficient logistics techniques. These include:

• controlling inventory via consolidation centres
• using just-in-time delivery techniques to reduce or even eliminate the need to store materials on-site
• setting up take-back schemes for unused materials
• identifying upcoming peaks in demand to avoid pinch points - known as 'demand smoothing'
• using software to accurately forecast quantities of materials and monitor their consumption on site
• reducing packaging waste through reusable or returnable pallets
• back-hauling waste materials using delivery vehicles (reverse logistics)

For more guidance on efficient logistics, see setting up a construction material logistics plan.

Reducing construction site waste is only possible if every part of your business buys into what you are trying to achieve. A directive from management to simply reduce waste may be ignored and even resented by frontline workers if it isn't clear what practical steps they should take to achieve this.

You should communicate the idea that construction site waste can play a major role in reducing costs. Team members that become 'waste aware' enable your business to operate more efficiently and increase profitability.

Waste reduction must not be viewed simply as a way to enhance your business' environmental credentials. It should be a clear and present driving force behind each construction project and not simply a marketing gimmick.

You can improve communication and delivery of your waste management practices by:

• using incentives to encourage employees to reduce waste
• 91香蕉黄色视频ing workers and other contractors to help them improve their waste reduction techniques
• using simple waste management signs with clearly understood symbols
• discussing your waste reduction priorities in your site meetings and team briefings
• holding waste workshops to share information, insights and resolve issues
• appointing waste champions to act as a central point of contact and advice for frontline staff
• partnering with like-minded subcontractors and designers to share information and waste reduction ideas
• setting targets and measuring your progress against these

See how to make the case for environmental improvements.