UK construction & demolition waste sent to landfill down

A recent report from the UK's Waste & Resources Action programme (WRAP) says that signatories to the reconstruction Commitments: Halving Waste to Landfill programme have all significantly reduced the volume of construction waste that they are sending to landfill.

Combined figures from the 32 signatory companies shows a total decrease of 28% of CD&E waste sent to landfill between 2008 and 2009, representing a fall from 3.1 million tonnes in 2008 to 2.2 million tonnes by the end of 2009.

The target for the UK construction industry is to reduce waste by half the 15 million tonnes waste estimated to be sent to landfill per year across the entire UK annually.

According to Waste and Recycling Minister Lord Henley: "Architects, engineers and builders across the country are saving money and the environment by cutting down on throwing out valuable material.

"Construction businesses, big and small, are now on board and making this happen, so I'd challenge those not yet involved to also step up and see the real value that halving waste to landfill will bring."

WRAP has produced a range of case studies based on the actions of a number of the signatories that outline the varied ways that waste issues are being addressed that are available for others to use. They can be downloaded from www.wrap.org.uk/construction/casestudies/index.html.