"This unique agreement provides the utilities industry with a common approach to improving the environmental impact of its work"
Paul de Jong, Sustainable Construction Manager at National Grid
Banbury, England: The first construction agreement of its kind to provide a focused and sector-wide approach to reducing waste to landfill and increasing the uptake of recycled and stabilised materials in street works, was launched on Monday.
The Utilities Industry Agreement - brokered by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) – results from consultation with a wide range of industry stakeholders, and deals with the 4.8 million tonnes of trench arisings that the utilities industry produces each year, over half of which is currently going to landfill.
Signatories to the agreement - utilities companies and their contractors - are pledging their support to achieving greater materials resource efficiency in street works through writing policies and setting targets aimed at achieving an increased use of recycled and stabilised materials and reducing waste to landfill.
EDF Energy, National Grid, Thames Water, Three Valleys Water and Scotia Gas Networks are among the first utility companies to commit to the agreement.
Paul de Jong, Sustainable Construction Manager at National Grid, said:
“This unique agreement provides the utilities industry with a common approach to improving the environmental impact of its work. It will be challenging at first, but through sharing best practice we can work together to break down any barriers that are preventing us from being more sustainable. The agreement acts as a catalyst for ongoing improvement in both environmental and financial terms.”
The Agreement
Under the agreement, utilities companies are committing to embed in company policies the use of recycled and stabilised materials and the reduction of waste arisings sent to landfill and set company targets and milestones to achieve the policies.
Companies would also be required to use procurement and contractual arrangements to deliver these targets, promote the use of recycled and stabilised materials and share knowledge on trials of recycled and stabilised materials. A dedicated online database would be created to provide information on the trials.
Supporting agreement for contractors
Contractors can commit to targets set by the utilities company and write their own policies and contractual requirements, using a supporting agreement, to ensure similar commitment from sub-contractors.
Contractors already committing to this agreement include Balfour Beatty Utilities, Clancy Docwra, Morrison Utility Services and Skanska.
Mike Watson, Head of Construction at WRAP, commented:
“This sector agreement has been developed for the industry, by the industry. It helps to support the drive towards sustainability in the construction sector by providing a framework for delivering greater materials efficiencies. WRAP will continue to encourage more signatories to sign up and to support the implementation of the agreement and its objectives in practice.”
Local authorities
Local authorities are also an important contributor to the agreement through the HAUC (Highways Authorities and Utility Committee) Memorandum of Understanding. Local authorities can approve and encourage the use of recycled and stabilised materials and support the utility companies and their contractors in reducing waste to landfill.
Barry Lucas, Principal Technical Officer for Islington Council, commented:
“The sector’s been crying out for an industry-wide agreement to help it become more environmentally-friendly and save costs. Islington Council got involved because it’s a positive step towards real sustainability, and complements our own ambition to become the greenest borough in London.
“Through the Utilities Industry Agreement, WRAP is making sure the whole industry is doing things the right way – which is best for everyone.”
WRAP says that supporting documentation and guidance has been developed for the new agreement which will provide practical advice for all stakeholders.
The Utilities Industry Agreement follows and includes recommendations from the Government’s draft Strategy for Sustainable Construction (2007). The Strategy put forward the development of voluntary agreements by industry sectors as one option for improving the efficient use of materials and reducing the industry’s carbon footprint.
An added advantage is that the UIA It will allow the utilities sector to show progress against the targets outlined in the draft Strategy and the England Waste Strategy (2007) to halve waste to landfill by 2012 and achieve zero waste to landfill by 2020.
Further information
To find out more about the Utilities Industry Agreement and how you can sign up, as well as access practical guidance and support, visit www.wrap.org.uk/construction.
WRAP works in partnership to encourage and enable businesses and consumers to be more efficient in their use of materials and recycle more things more often. This helps to minimise landfill, reduce carbon emissions and improve our environment.
Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.