Introduction
The construction industry generates 62% of the UK’s waste with 32% of all waste sent to landfill. In the UK, the standard rate of diversion from landfill sits at 87%, meaning 13% of all construction waste goes direct to landfill. This
results in at least 5 million tonnes of construction waste in landfill site across the UK each year.
Carbon from waste disposal sits under Scope 3 within The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which provides accounting standards for greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in the supply and value chain activities of an organisation. Seddon have been proactively working to reduce waste generation since 2019, with a deep understanding that this will consequently lead to reduced transportation emissions, less pollution and cost savings. Importantly, this will benefit our goals working towards net zero status by 2050, which will see us reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 90% by 2050 from a 2021 base year (CRP).
Our waste emission reduction is not from delivering less work, but rather due to smarter handling. This is demonstrated by maintaining a high turnover - our waste to turnover ratio has dropped 73.3% showing the drop while our turnover has remained consistent. Our reduction in waste has improved through better education, increased waste segregation on site, faster programmes, accurate deliveries and better material procurement. Seddon work with Circle Recycling, a Joint Venture (JV), who is our sole provider for waste management services. This close engagement provides more control to be more sustainable, responsible, resource-efficient and for its up skilling potential. Circle is deeply committed to the principles of sustainable waste management, encouraging innovative recycling and recovery solutions to minimise waste and generate economic and environmental benefits.We have reduced waste carbon using the waste hierarchy. The hierarchy prioritises prevention over disposal and emphasises the best approach to managing waste is to prevent its generation. It is important to note that prevention is sometimes limited as a contractor (i.e. inheriting retrofit assets), resulting in other ways - prevention is still possible with inherited assets via reuse/circularity audits.
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