Halving Waste to Landfill, SEESA

Transcription

1 SEESA is working hard to achieve its target of 90% diversion of waste to landfill by 2012 by exploring new ways of working, applying initiatives to eliminate and minimise waste, and to reuse, recycle and recover waste generated by their activities. In March 2007 National Grid signed contracts to upgrade and develop the electricity transmission network across England and Wales. This work has been contracted to a number of consortium partners. A joint venture company (AMS JV) comprising, Alstom (formerly Areva T&D), Mott MacDonald and Skanska was awarded one of the substation areas. The alliance was called the South East Electricity Substation Alliance (SEESA) and was set up to: upgrade and develop transmission networks; modernise and refurbish existing assets; build new infrastructure; develop new design concepts; and look at ways to adopt sustainable construction methods. Targets for reducing waste to landfill In line with Halving waste to Landfill SEESA has set a target to divert 90% of all construction waste from landfill by In addition, National Grid has also set a target to divert 90% of all construction waste from landfill by Performance against the targets is reported monthly. In October 2009 SEESA signed up to WRAP s Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment. This case study examines how SEESA has implemented the key steps of the Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment and are formalising their waste and resource efficiency objectives. Recycling inert waste into aggregate at West Thurrock and Kemsley page 1 forward

2 % waste landfilled Diversion from landfill performance In 2008, SEESA s baseline year, 79% waste was diverted from landfill, i.e. 21% was being sent to landfill. Their target to halve this figure and meet their commitment meant that their diversion from landfill target would be 90% in It is clear from the following table that SEESA has already achieved this target: Year % waste landfilled % diverted from landfill Embed targets within corporate policy and processes The waste targets have been embedded in SEESA s policy and procedures, including procurement documentation. Embedding these within corporate policy and processes is essential in achieving resource efficiency and associated financial savings on projects. SEESA worked with WRAP to develop inclusions in the SHESQ (Safety, Health, Environmental, Security and Quality) Performance Requirements for Subcontractors document, placing contractual requirements for minimum standards to be adopted by the supply chain to help achieve internal and Halving Waste to Landfill targets target SEESA also uses a KPI of tonnes landfill per 100K construction spend to assess performance, and thus aligns with the Halving Waste to Landfill reporting requirements. Year Tonnes landfilled / 100k spend page 2

3 Tonnes of waste Measuring performance at a project level Diversion from landfill performance SEESA has increased its overall diversion from landfill performance from 79% to 99% in two years. SEESA is managing to achieve these targets by managing waste and materials sustainably and viewing wastes as a resource. Examples of innovation include: Predicting arisings. Turning inert waste into aggregates. Developing packaging requirements. Implementing the CL:AIRE Code of Practice. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Concrete mix. Site Swap Shop. The following waste management initiatives are used in all projects, where applicable: Wastes are segregated to allow more opportunities for reuse, recycling and recovery. The same signage and colour-coding are used at all sites to enable consistent waste segregation. Reuse on site of soils, concrete, bricks and tarmac. Recycling off-site for materials such as metals, electrical & electronic equipment, vegetation, aerosols, wood, cables and packaging. Sending waste off-site for recovery/treatment including septic tank sludge, oils, fuels, mixed waste, contaminated soils, interceptor waste, roadsweepings, used spill kits and PPE. Predicting arisings The SWMP legally requires companies to predict future waste arisings. To address this SEESA developed a Civils Estimating Package tool that automatically calculates costs, quantities of materials, embodied carbon and predicted waste volumes. The information generated is used to assess carbon and to populate SEESA s combined Materials and Site Waste Management Plan Reuse, recyling and recovery Landfill page 3

4 Recycling inert waste into aggregate At Kemsley and West Thurrock substations inert wastes were segregated, crushed and screened in line with the WRAP Quality Protocol, creating a usable product. As a result, SEESA avoided disposal costs, the purchase of aggregates and transportation costs, as summarised in the table below: West Thurrock Kemsley Total Traditional (te) On site treatment (te) CO 2 avoided* (te) Cost saving 10,972 20,956 31,928 * Represents transport savings only Review of packaging requirements Traditionally wooden packaging was used to transport busbars (hollow aluminium pipes that conduct electricity at the substation, linking equipment) from France. However, a review of this packaging identified the following: 330 tonnes of packaging delivered to UK in incidents involving nails in packaging reported in Packaging cannot be recycled due to nails installed using a nail gun. Manufacture Traditional wood crate New saddle Savings Cost 81,818 16,364 64,454 Carbon (te of CO 2 e) Transport Carbon (CO 2 e) Disposal Landfill tax 2, ,952 Landfill impact (te) Other cost 8, ,700 Total cost 93,470 16,364 77,106 Total carbon (te of CO 2 e) SEESA worked with its supplier to find an alternative a reusable transport saddle is made from aluminium and plywood. It is estimated that this saddle can be used five times prior to disposal. A summary of savings is shown in the following table: page 4

5 CL:AIRE Code of Practice At Bramford substation 28,000 m 3 of subsoil needed to be excavated. Since planning conditions required the construction of noise attenuation bunds and landscaping, SEESA used the CL:AIRE Code of Practice to identify that subsoils could be used to form the bunds under a combined Materials and Site Waste Management Plan. In addition, contaminated soils were sent off site for washing. Despite this action topsoil was brought on to site as insufficient quantities of recovered soils were available. Life Cycle Analysis SEESA uses the life cycle analysis (LCA) tool SIMAPRO. It identifies the source of carbon emission and the impact of different processes on a wide range of environmental issues. Each process is mapped against carbon footprint and allows the user to identify opportunities to reduce carbon. The example of the SIMAPRO software output is shown below. The width of red line indicates relative impact of a process. A summary of the savings achieved at Bramford are shown in the following table: Disposal options Inert landfill Reused off site Landfill tax 87, Disposal cost 1,050, Recycling cost 0 70,000 0 Transport cost 490, ,000 0 Kept on site Purchase of materials for bund 320, ,000 22,500 Totals 1,947, ,000 22,500 page 5

6 Material Specification A review of armoured cabling identified that much of this costly raw material requires the armouring to be stripped off prior to installation, which is not only time consuming but generates waste that has to be disposed of. Where possible, non-armoured cabling is now purchased. An example of the savings can be achieved is shown in the following table: Tilbury project Waste (tes) CO 2 saving (tes) Armoured cable Non-armoured cable 0 27 Based on a requirement of 15.2 tonnes cabling Additional savings were achieved by reducing the volume of cabling by installing the merge protection and control equipment into a joint cabinet. Concrete Mix One tonne of concrete produces between 75 to 175 kg of CO 2 depending on the mix. One of SEESA s objectives is to use Greener, more sustainable concrete solutions through the better use of secondary materials, for example: recycled water. reclaimed aggregates. industry by-products, such as fly ash or GGBS (ground granulated blastfurnace slag) as replacements for traditional cement. Efficiently designed concrete mixes using cement replacements can bring about significant s in CO 2 emissions when compared to equivalent traditional Portland Cement (CEM I) grades, as shown in the table below: Concrete mix CEM I Reduction in CO 2 emissions compared to CEM I A joint cabinet in use Fly ash % GGBS % As well as the environmental, concrete made with GGBS or fly ash has good cohesion and fluidity when fresh, and when in the hardened state is generally less permeable and more durable, and has enhanced long term strength. The only disadvantage is that at higher replacement levels, early age strength development is slower (increased setting time), and extra care may be required when casting thin sections during the winter months. However this can be mitigated by better programming of concrete pours and use of insulated formwork. page 6

7 Site Swap Shop Consistently, at the end of each project SEESA was finding that they had a surplus of items such as fencing, office furniture, kerb stones, bricks and blocks. To maximise utilisation of these valuable resources, SEESA established an in-house materials transfer scheme as a web based tool, known as The Site Swap Shop. Launched in December 2009, The Site Swap Shop is used to provide better stock control of high value commodities, helping to deliver on SEESA s environmental commitments and deliver cost savings across their operations. Significant are already being realised and with further development and expansion planned, this tool is playing a pivotal role in streamlining SEESA s material logistics. New Swap Shop Saving Purchase 8, ,450 Delivery * - 50 CO 2 (kg) 19, ,377 * Collect surplus drainage equipment from Leiston Substation and Deliver to Bramford Substation Bramford Substation required some drainage equipment for a new car park. By using The Site Swap Shop scheme the site saved 8,400 and 19.4 tonnes CO 2. page 7

8 Report annually on corporate performance By 2012, SEESA aims to divert 90% of waste from landfill; the company will report progress annually using the following KPIs: tonnes of waste per 100k project value tonnes of waste to landfill per 100k project value % of waste diverted from landfill Benefits Robust forecasting of waste arisings and implementation of SWMP at an early stage Reporting on performance using industry-standard metrics and measurement methods Clearly defining requirements to supply chain through the tender process and regular auditing Adopting good practice at the earliest possible stage page 8

9 This case study is one of a series that examines how companies are implementing the key steps of the Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment and formalising their waste and resource efficiency objectives. For more information, visit You can access: information on the Commitment; the wall of fame; tools and guidance; a range of other case studies; and the Waste to Landfill Reporting Portal (a free online tool for collecting waste data from your projects, monitoring your corporate progress and reviewing your performance). While steps have been taken to ensure its accuracy, WRAP cannot accept responsibility or be held liable to any person for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. This material is copyrighted. It may be reproduced free of charge subject to the material being accurate and not used in a misleading context. The source of the material must be identified and the copyright status acknowledged. This material must not be used to endorse or used to suggest WRAP s endorsement of a commercial product or service. For more detail, please refer to our Terms & Conditions on our website - back : home Waste & Resources Action Programme The Old Academy 21 Horse Fair Banbury, Oxon OX16 OAH Tel: Fax: info@wrap.org.uk Helpline freephone