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Executive Report: Don’t throw away opportunities Nigel Strickland analyses current attitudes to construction site waste and suggests that, while they pose challenges, they have the potential to create opportunities for hirers. The products our industry hires, the expanding range of services we offer and the way we do business have virtually all been adopted in direct response to changes in construction. Understanding future trends will put us in a far better position to meet the challenges, and there is no larger issue on the horizon than the environment. Back in December 2001, Claes Bjork, then President and CEO of Skanska said, “It is estimated that buildings and their consumption represent more than 40% of energy use within the European Union. This means that buildings, in contrast to popular belief, contribute more greenhouse gases than traffic (31%) and industry (28%). Europe and the construction industry should take the lead in the global fight against the threat to our climate.” Under the umbrella heading of the environment, the issue of waste is of paramount importance. Construction activity in the UK produces in the region 75 million tonnes annually. Apart from the demand this places on an ever decreasing, yet more expensive, number of landfill sites, this represents an enormous loss of potentially recyclable materials, as well as a waste of energy expended in manufacture and shipment. Clear hire opportunities Government estimates suggest that more than 20% of waste materials from construction sites can be saved by re-use and recycling. Further encouragement, if more were needed, comes from the increased number of materials now classified as ‘hazardous’, requiring segregation and separate disposal. This gives clear opportunities for the hire industry. In terms of re-use, examples are now appearing where contractors are responding with innovative working practices. Ballantyne Homes, a Welsh housing developer, reused all the building material from the demolition of an entire hospital in Port Talbot to build 40 affordable homes on a site nearby. The company salvaged as much as possible and reduced its reliance on landfill. In projects such as this, cleaning and preparing valuable material such as old bricks is a necessity, and electric brick cleaners have proved to be one of the most effective methods for removing old mortar and plaster. One Australian manufacturer claims that one of its machines, which can be simultaneously operated by two people, can achieve a throughput of 2,000 bricks/day. (This particular product was imported into the UK several years ago but, currently, a single-operator cleaner imported by Refina (www.refina.co.uk) appears to be the only type available.) A similar example of material re-use involves English Heritage and several recent historic building refurbishment projects. While re-building and repairing old masonry and walling, the old mortar was recovered and reused to ensure compatibility with the surrounding building fabric. The organisation hired roller pan mixers, with heavy twin grinding rollers to crush, mix and rework the reclaimed materials. Compact mobile crushers Looking next at recycling, one of the most visible responses to increased waste disposal costs has been the advent of the compact mobile hardcore crusher. For years, large crushing plants have gone hand in hand with major demolition sites. However, the annual escalation in Landfill Tax and the Aggregate Levy means that waste minimisation and on-site recycling are no longer the exclusive preserve of large projects. Accordingly, compact crushers are being added to many hire fleets in response to the demand from smaller contractors, who recognise the benefits of creating useable hardcore from concrete and brick building waste, while eliminating skip hire charges and the cost of importing fill. Inevitably, however, not all waste produced can be processed on site, with some having to be taken elsewhere for disposal or recycling. The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has developed a generic Waste Stream Colour Coding scheme for use in the construction industry. Peter Gerstrom, Vice-Chairman of ICE’s (www.ice.org.uk) Waste Management Board, states “The objective of colour coding is to separate waste at its source by using a ‘standard coding’ and recognised symbols so that, in time, everyone on site will react subconsciously to a colour and symbol on a skip and only place in it what the colour suggests it should contain.” Initially, one might think that hire opportunities here are restricted to a forward-thinking hirer offering for hire a range of colour-coded, wheeled site waste bins that mirror the ICE colour coding. However, dig a little deeper and other possibilities begin to appear. With an estimated 300,000 tonnes of waste plasterboard generated each year from new construction activity, the colour coding initiative identifies this material as a key target to be managed on site. Off-cuts can be recycled, and using reclaimed gypsum in the manufacture of new plasterboard represents a neat, closed-loop solution. Holistic approach One of the most innovative and holistic approaches to the complete management of plasterboard on site comes from Sweden. Starke Arvid (www.starkearvid.se) has been producing tools and equipment for the construction and contracting industries in the Nordic region since 1978. Its ethos is to address the whole lifecycle of plasterboard on site, and it sees waste as not only dealing with off-cuts, but also as a by-product of poor handling and storage. In 2002, Brandon Hire began importing some Starke Arvid products in response to demands for an on-site logistics system from customers in the expanding dry-lining industry. The system it introduced begins with the delivery of plasterboard on site onto a purpose-built stillage, or frame, rather than a hastily arranged stack of pallets. From this, the sheets are distributed on site via a lift truck complete with a hydraulic bed that allows off-loading onto a set of simple trestles. Cutting and fitting of the plasterboard sheet is then facilitated by a transit trolley that readily converts into a workbench or table. Bulky off-cuts are disposed of into a wheeled bin for later transfer to the main site waste skip. So far, the system has reduced manual handling to an absolute minimum, thereby reducing damage and providing additional Health & Safety benefits. Recently, however, the final part of the system, which recognises that poorly loaded waste skips and containers are costly and inefficient, has been introduced, with the potential to generate real cost savings. The Chipper is a mobile guillotine that chops plasterboard waste into small pieces for disposal into dedicated bins, big bags or rubbish chutes. The volume a container or skip can hold can be increased by between 30-60%. Complete package Considering that a 40-yard roll-on, roll-off container of plasterboard waste would cost approximately £680-£700 to dispose of for recycling, and even more for burial at a landfill site, the potential savings are significant. In addition, because transport of scrap materials is reduced, carbon dioxide emissions are further lowered while increasing profitability. Brandon Hire says it is encouraged by the potential of the complete package, which can be offered to the dry-lining market. Our industry continues to effectively manage the huge impact that Health & Safety legislation has had on construction and the subsequent hire of equipment. Although not so readily apparent, the ‘green agenda’ is bringing about more far-reaching and fundamental changes in working practices than any Health & Safety legislation we have seen so far. This in turn will create opportunities for our industry. Don’t waste them. • Executive Hire News › Archives › October 2007 › Executive Report › Don't throw away opportunities
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