Waste Logistics Case Study
Compactable Construction Waste
Collection from Developments
with Limited Storage Space
The movement, storage and subsequent removal of
mixed construction waste on space-limited sites
presents a number of logistical challenges. This case
study examines the approach adopted by a specialist
construction waste management company resulting
in high levels of diversion from landfill.
Premier Waste UK Plc has been providing integrated waste services to the construction industry since 1989. Premier waste provides tailor made solutions for site waste management. One such example is the use of fixed compactors to reduce the volume of waste removed from site.
Service capability
Premier Waste UK Plc operates a transfer station and a fleet of 14 vehicles in the north of Birmingham. The transfer station can process between 600 and 800 tonnes of waste per day and the company has a turnover of £7 million per annum.
The company was the first waste management company signatory to the Construction Commitments: Halving Waste to Landfill, a voluntary agreement that provides a framework for waste reduction. Premier has committed to reduce the waste sent to landfill through the operation of their business thus contributing to the overall Halving Waste to Landfill commitment.
Premier offer integrated waste management services including the supply of manpower and management of data. The company’s portfolio consists of approximately 90% construction based waste collections, mainly from infrastructure based construction projects such as schools, colleges and hospitals. The company has noticed an increased demand for accurate data from construction projects since the implementation of Site Waste Management Plans
(SWMP).
All of the mixed wastes collected by Premier are taken to the transfer station where they are separated and bulked for onward recycling or disposal. The transfer station is currently achieving landfill diversion rates on the mixed construction wastes of
between 93 - 98%. The remaining residual element is sent for disposal via landfill or an incineration plant.
“The transfer station allows us to achieve the high recycling rates demanded by many of our clients”.
Wayne Clarke. Director, Premier Waste UK plc
Birmingham New Hospital
The Birmingham New Hospital development is a 3 to 4 year project to construct an iconic super hospital to replace the ageing Queen Elizabeth II hospital in Birmingham.
The construction of the hospital is a joint venture between Balfour Beatty and Hayden Young, commonly referred to as the
Birmingham New Hospital Joint Venture (BNH JV). The contract for the waste collection service required a minimum of 80% of the waste removed from site to be recycled.
Service description
The service provided by Premier to BNH JV is for the compactable mixed construction waste and utilises a fixed compactor to
minimise the volume of waste to be stored locally and removed from the site.
There are 230 metal and plastic wheeled containers (appropriately labelled) on the site of which 80% are 660 litre containers, 15% are 820 litre containers and 5% are 240 litre containers. The containers are strategically located at points of waste production and have been selected for the ability to move these through doorways. The production of the waste at the site changes as the build progresses so it is important that the fill levels of the bins are monitored and containers reallocated as required. This process is achieved through the use of 10 full time Premier staff
responsible for ensuring that the bins can be moved from the point of work to the ground level compactor safely.
Subcontractors can request as many containers as required to be delivered to an area of the site to contain the waste. The waste collected is entirely mixed. Some wastes are segregated as good practice including plasterboard, vinyl flooring and demolition and landscaping wastes.
The containers are removed from the multi storey development using manpower and the use of the six lifts and hoists.
Figure 3 The use of hoists aid safe movement of the containers to the compactor
Each container is taken to the compactor and emptied using mechanical lifting equipment. The compactor capacity is between eighty and ninety 660 litre containers. This normally equates to approximately 10 tonnes of waste before the compaction container is removed from the site on an exchange basis. The containers are normally emptied between 5pm and 9pm each day with the compactor being emptied at 7am the following morning.
Figure 4 The use of lifting equipment to load the waste from the containers into the
compactor
The site is due to enter the final phase of fit out, within the 5 year build period which ends in October 2010. The site is to use a compaction vehicle and a static compactor to manage the increasing volume of waste to be collected from the site as the project enters this final phase which adds a greater flexibility to the service provision. This will also help to manage collections with the shifting locations of waste production in the final phase of completion.
To ensure that the service supplied is understood and complied with a description of the service and its use is provided at the induction session for new site operatives. Financial penalties for non compliance are levied to the offending companies.
Service assessment
Key findings
The compactor on site can contain the equivalent of 13 x 8 yard skips, reducing the movements of compactable waste off site by 13 fold.
The use of the compactor saves 148 miles per day in waste transport, reducing the wear on the vehicle and equating to approximately 12 gallons of diesel per day.
The transfer station achieves a diversion rate from landfill of 93-98% of the mixed construction waste collected.
Benefits
The main benefit of the service is the reduced movements of waste material from the site. The use of the compactor has
reduced the movements required for the compactable waste by an equivalent of 12 x 8 yard skips per day. This considerably reduces the CO2 impact of the service.
The service also requires less time and resource from the waste management company to collect the volume of waste. This enables the waste management company to more easily absorb the service requirement within the existing workforce and fleet. This in turn also reduces the likelihood of service failures that could be critical to the progress of the build and maximises
efficiencies. Furthermore the compactor enables the containers to be emptied on an ‘as and when’ basis 24 hours a day. This means that the containers can be emptied out of hours (as can the compaction unit) reducing the disruption to the construction process during normal working hours.
The flexible structure of the service allows for variation in terms of labour, containers and the use of a compaction vehicle to manage peak periods of mixed compactable waste production. This
ensures that the most cost effective service is provided at all times. The capability of the transfer station and associated recycling plant to achieve high rates of landfill diversion from a mixed waste input has the benefit of reducing the number of containers required to remove the waste from site. There is no need for multiple material containers on the construction site except to segregate materials that are more sensitive to contamination in the mixed waste collection such as canteen waste and plasterboard that may affect the quality of the material to be recycled.
Conclusions
The service provided at the BNH JV site relies upon a fixed
compaction unit that reduces the volume of waste to be removed from site, with associated financial and environmental benefits of reduced costs and CO2 emissions.
The quality of the material for recycling through this system is maximised by segregating selected materials such as food waste known to contaminate and reduce the quality of waste materials for recycling. The service is therefore a compromise between reducing operational costs, diverting waste from landfill and maximising recycling.
The fixed site location of the compactor does remove some flexibility to reposition the compaction unit as this incurs costs of around £1,000 per move. The use of compaction vehicles is more flexible but the capital purchase cost of a compaction vehicle at £125,000 is prohibitive for most construction projects given the temporary status of construction locations. The fixed compaction unit therefore provides a cost effective compromise in terms of capital expenditure for the waste management company and the cost of the service operation supplied to the client to minimise the environmental impact.
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