Were proud to say that in 2020 we diverted 98.3% of our construction waste from landfill. We also reduced the amount of waste we produce, decreasing our construction waste intensity (kg of waste per £100k of turnover) by 28% between 2019 and 2020.
However, we need to go further. In our sustainability strategy, Now or Never, launched in September 2020, we committed to generating zero avoidable waste by 2030. To do that, our teams must work with our customers and supply chain partners to eradicate all avoidable waste from the demolition, excavation, and construction phases of our projects.
To achieve our ambition, we must think differently about how we deal with the waste we encounter on site. Gone are the days of throwing everything in a skip to be sent off for segregation and recycling; we must recover at the highest possible level of efficiency, and this means reusing and repurposing materials as much as possible.
Recently, a few of our projects have been successful at doing just that:
- Our team at Middle Temple recently donated £21k worth of furniture from strip-out to a Latvian orphanage by partnering with charity Clean Conscience. In the process they also managed to save 6.6 tonnes of carbon.
- Quarry House have donated furniture throughout the project to a school in Gambia, Mencap’s local charity offices and the local prison service. Their donation to the local prison service saved the recipient an estimated £60,000.
- Quarry House are also working with our supply chain partners to salvage their carpet tiles which will be recycled closed-loop and re-used on the same project.
- On site at Gresham Street, supply chain partner Vision AGI received windowpanes in protective timber stillages. Instead of sending it to the skip, the timber was repurposed into material storage boxes that were used for the duration of the project.
Only through early planning, collaboration and implemention of solutions like those above, we will be able to eliminate our waste and achieve our 2030 ambition.