DEPARTMENT FOR
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (News Release ref
:105 /07) issued by The Government News Network on 2 April 2007
Proposals for
reducing the 109 million tones of waste produced by the UK
construction industry every year were published today for consultation.
Around 13% of all the solid materials delivered to construction
sites goes unused, and up to one third ends up in landfill. Around
a third of all fly tipping includes waste from the construction,
demolition and excavation sectors.
Today's consultation proposes to make Site Waste Management
Plans a legal requirement for all projects in England worth over
£250,000. Those responsible for Plans would need to assess the
waste that will be produced on a construction site and detail how
it will be reused, recycled or disposed of.
During construction, the Plans would be updated to record what
actually happens to the waste, including the legitimate disposal
of materials that cannot be reused or recycled. This audit trail
would reduce the potential for fly-tipping and increase the
accountability of contractors. Higher level reporting and review
processes would apply to projects over £500,000.
Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs) should also help the
construction industry to get maximum value out of its waste and
make better use of resources.
Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw said:
"The increasing number of construction projects up and down
the country are indicative of a healthy, growing economy. But all
this comes at a price.
"The UK's construction output is the second largest in
the EU. The industry uses a tremendous amount of raw materials,
much of which ends up as waste. Each year 400 million tonnes of
solid materials are used in the UK construction industry but only
two-thirds is added to the building stock. The rest is sent
directly to landfill.
"Rising levels of waste crime are stopping us from achieving
a sustainable construction sector, and rising numbers of fly-tips
around the country, many of which are made up of construction and
demolition waste, adversely affects the quality of life in many communities.
"It's essential that industry is seen to be taking this
problem seriously. We can only expect householders to reduce their
own waste if they understand that they do this as part of a much
wider process which demands action from every one of us."
The issues addressed in the consultation include whether to make
SWMPs a statutory requirement or to continue the existing
voluntary approach, the minimum level at which a project should
require a SWMP, the level of detail they should offer, and how the
SWMP can improve resource efficiency.
The anticipated benefits of SWMPs include:
* Saving the construction industry money. The savings to be made
across the industry should far outweigh the cost of writing and
implementing a SWMP, which for many companies will simply be a
case of recording site management information on waste separately.
* Closing down the market for illegal waste operators by ensuring
that only registered waste carriers and licensed waste management
sites are used by those responsible for construction projects.
This will improve the industry's compliance with the Duty of
Care regime and should result in less fly-tipping of construction waste.
* Improving site safety by allocating specific areas for
recycling and proper storage of materials. There is a strong
correlation between poorly organised construction sites and high
accident rates.
The consultation closes on Monday 9 July and is published online
at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/construction-sitewaste/index.htm.
Notes for Editors
1. The Cabinet Office Inter-departmental Fly-Tipping Prevention
group recommended in 2004 that the Government should develop the
concept of site waste management plans as a way of controlling
rising levels of waste crime involving construction and demolition
waste, and as a way of improving resource efficiency within the
construction sector. At the same time, DTI introduced a voluntary
code of practice which some of the larger construction companies
have adopted. Those that have adopted these or similar plans have
reported significant savings in some cases.
2. Following consultation, the Government included powers in the
Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (CNEA) Bill to make
regulations requiring those responsible for construction projects
above a specified value to prepare plans to manage their waste
before work begins on site and to implement them during the work.
3. This consultation applies within England. A consultation on
similar regulations for Wales is expected to be published later
this year.
4. These proposals will complement and underpin other existing
waste controls, including the waste duty of care, waste carrier
and waste broker registration controls. Defra is separately
reviewing these controls.
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