Pathway to Zero Waste Initiatives Targets Construction Waste Recycling...

30th June 2009

Over the next five years the South East of England will produce the largest amount of construction and demolition waste in the UK. With landfill costs increasing annually and landfill capacity fast running out, this disposal method is not only financially and environmentally damaging, it is becoming practically impossible.

The Pathway to Zero Waste transformation program has been set up as a partnership between the South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA), the Environment Agency, and WRAP to specifically tackle the reduction in construction and demolition waste being sent to landfill.

Pathway to Zero Waste have established ambitious targets for the South East of England for the reduction in the disposal of construction and demolition waste that they would like to see:

• To reduce the amount of construction and demolition waste sent to landfill by 50% against 2008 levels by 2011 – one year ahead of national and industry targets.

• To reduce the amount of construction and demolition waste to landfill by 90% by 2010, paving the way for a zero waste region.

Achieving the 2011 target of a 50% reduction in construction and demolition waste volumes to landfill requires some 2.7 million tons of material to be diverted before 2011. This requires substantial investment in infrastructure in the South East region as current re-processing facilities do not have the capacity to cope with the increased volumes and different types of material that will now need to be processed.

Pathway to Zero Waste is also working to ensure that all of the planned public sector infrastructure developments in the South East of England specify a requirement for recycled materials to be used to the maximum possible level. This will drive the market for recycled construction and demolition waste materials in the region.

CDE have over 10 years experience in the design of materials handling systems for construction and demolition waste recycling. Our washing equipment installations have been installed throughout the UK and are delivering fully certified, high value recycled sand and aggregate products for use on a wide range of construction projects.

You can read case studies on our work in this area in the downloads section of our web site. Alternatively, you can contact us.

Further information on the Pathway to Zero Waste initiative can be found here