Get Sust! Issue 28

Off-site manufacture cuts waste

A study by WRAP, the government-backed Waste & Resources Action Programme, has found that off-site manufacturing can play a significant role in reducing construction waste - not just of raw materials, but of packaging too.

Among the main waste streams in traditional construction are packaging (up to 5 percent), timber (up to 25 percent) and plasterboard (up to 36 percent). The report suggests that up to a 90 percent of this waste could be avoided by increasing the use of off-site manufacture and modern methods of construction (MMC). The report also identifies the key off-site and MMC systems that cut waste.

WRAP says that decisions to use alternative construction methods to reduce waste can also form part of Site Waste Management Plans, which are expected to become mandatory in 2008.

Learn more:

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Visit www.wrap.org.uk/construction.