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Recycling brings creature comforts
Project: Decent Homes/voids
Client: North Somerset Housing
Location: North Somerset
Duration: 5 years
Value: £20m
Challenge
North Somerset Housing is a housing association that was set up in February 2006 to receive the transfer of North Somerset Council’s housing stock of over 6,000 homes. One of its main tasks is to improve the quality of these properties in line with the government’s Decent Homes programme. It is working with tenants and leaseholders to deliver £70 million of modernisation works - principally installing new kitchens and bathrooms. Connaught has a £20m, five year contract, where it must comply with North Somerset Housing’s desire to recycle the majority of waste generated by refurbishment.
Normally, this waste would be removed by a skip company and sent to landfill. But to ensure waste was going to be recycled effectively and to achieve the aims of North Somerset Housing, Connaught decided to take ownership of the disposal and recycling process itself.
Solution
Our site waste management plan detailed the exact nature of the waste. The first sixteen kitchens that were ripped out as part of Connaught Partnership’s refurbishment work were all brought to a depot where they were stripped down to their basic elements. There were ferrous and non-ferrous metals, glass and timber. Everything was measured, weighed, recorded and given the appropriate ticket and the data recorded to help prepare the site waste management plan.
Over 75% of the waste from refitting a kitchen comprises of chipboard, which is difficult to recycle because it often contains traces of glue or paint. We found a cost effective partner, Mendip Woodshaving, a small local business who recycle the chipboard to supply woodshavings as animal bedding throughout England and Wales.
Connaught staff were then equipped to separate and recycle hardcore, metals and timber - making scheduled visits to the sites to collect the waste material, whilst also taking away the packaging from the new kitchen furnishings at the same time.
All the metals are weighed separately and then sold for scrap to a registered dealer to be reused. This income is then used against the cost of disposing the timber.
Outcome
Steve Drew, Director of Property & Asset Management for North Somerset Housing says:
“Connaught demonstrated a real commitment, which to date has delivered a reduction in landfill of around 40 tonnes. When fully operational this will generate a saving to us in waste costs that we can then pass on to the partnership and invest further.
Connaught has helped us meet our sustainability targets and added real value. It is very much a beacon project and something we think can be rolled out by other social and landlord councils. We are keen to encourage our other partner contractors to join the scheme.”
Connaught is totally committed to being sustainable and helping customers meet their targets. It is working towards 90% recycling rates and believes that kitchens being turned into animal bedding is a first.
