Railways: Waste less and save money

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Susanna Cooper
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Cutting the cost of waste Halving Waste to Landfill Railways: Waste less and save money Procurement good practice for railway infrastructure construction and maintenance Introduction Buying less and

1 Cutting the cost of waste Halving Waste to Landfill Railways: Waste less and save money Procurement good practice for railway infrastructure construction and maintenance Introduction Buying less and throwing less away in the rail sector can help to: 1. save money by reducing and optimising costs through timely purchasing, lower waste management costs and planned recovery and reuse; 2. reduce carbon emissions helping to address regulator or authority targets; 3. respond to demands of corporate stakeholders, such as Integrated Transport Authority members or the Office of Rail Regulation; 4. link the management of the rail infrastructure with other local or corporate policies, like waste or sustainability policies, to demonstrate integrated action; and 5. respond to drivers from UK government. WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) provides a range of guidance, tools and templates to help the rail sector take action and realise the cost and environmental benefits of diverting waste from landfill. In particular, WRAP guidance and model wording enable rail authorities and their contractors to measure and improve performance through their procurement and contract processes. Guidance is freely available at In addition, the Designing out Waste Tool for Civil Engineering, the guide to Designing out Waste in Civil Engineering and the Net Waste Tool help project teams to focus their effort when reducing waste and reusing or recovering materials. Who should read this leaflet? executives of organisations that own and/or manage railway tracks, stations and other infrastructure; representatives of Passenger Transport Executive member authorities; economic and engineering specialists of the rail regulator; engineers managing railway tracks, stations and other infrastructure; technical and professional managers with an interest in the reuse of assets and recovery of materials; and engineering contractors and consultants. How to make a difference set corporate policies and targets think about signing up to the Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment; embed performance requirements in procurement processes, project briefs, contracts and whole life asset management plans; use WRAP tools or others to identify waste reduction and recovery opportunities, and include these in your Site Waste Management Plan from an early design stage; require contractors to drive out the waste generated by their supply chains; and measure performance on projects and record achievements.

2 The case for less waste Sending less waste to landfill and reusing materials makes commercial sense. Materials are a valuable commodity and waste disposal is becoming ever more costly as Landfill Tax rises. Civil engineering and infrastructure projects offer many opportunities to reduce waste, which can lower the overall costs of projects. An estimated million tonnes of construction, demolition and excavation waste end up in landfill each year without any form of recovery and reuse, and about half of this is excavation waste; all taking up room in inert landfills where capacity is expected to run out by Landfill Tax is currently 48 per tonne for non-inert construction wastes, rising to 72 per tonne by 2013, and 2.50 per tonne for inert materials which can be readily recycled. Recycled aggregates avoid 2 per tonne of Aggregates Levy. Hence, diverting 1 tonne of material from landfill and reusing it instead of primary aggregate saves Senior management need to provide direction to their supply chains by setting waste reduction and recovery targets in their policy documents and strategic management processes. Once strategy and targets have been set, the way is clear for managers, engineers and consultants to take appropriate actions avoiding the need to seek additional or time-consuming permissions. Project managers should ask for waste reduction, reuse and recovery to minimise construction spend. Design managers should work with design teams to create realistic material demands with lower estimating contingencies. This can be especially important on major projects where a fast track approach is needed as this can exacerbate a tendency to over order. Maintenance managers should take action on waste to maximise the value achieved from their budgets while integrating sustainability. By ensuring that materials and assets purchased have clear and agreed provenance and quality, it is easier to permit reuse. What can be achieved? Network Rail avoided 200,000 in costs by reusing 20,000 m 3 of redundant ballast. The material was moved to the new location by rail and 8,000 lorry movements were avoided saving an estimated 175 tonnes of CO 2 emissions. To deliver its Corporate Sustainability Policy, Network Rail has set targets for waste diversion and use of sustainable materials by 2014: to divert 95% of waste track materials from landfill; to divert 60% of station, offices and depot waste from landfill; and to ensure that 25% of allocated spend goes on sustainable materials by The Office of Rail Regulation has identified that better placement of ballast when re-profiling track could reduce demand for stone by 10%, and result in annual savings of 0.5 million. Skanska is erecting base stations for mobile communications adjacent to the railway. Traditional concrete bases were replaced with materials-efficient 'micro-piles' or a 'modular' solution. So far, the designs have avoided the use of 7,200 m 3 of concrete and diverted 8,400 m 3 of excavated material from landfill. 1. reduce costs by: buying less in, reusing more, and throwing less away; making savings on the staff time, storage, and vehicle fuel wasted in managing excess materials; avoiding the rising costs of Landfill Tax and the Aggregates Levy; maximising the value of in-situ materials, such as cleaning ballast, making hydraulically bound mixtures or using geosynthetics; and introducing incentives for waste reduction, reuse, and recovery.

Reduce waste and reduce carbon Like many other industries, the measurement and control of carbon has a significant influence across the transport sector.

3 Reduce waste and reduce carbon Like many other industries, the measurement and control of carbon has a significant influence across the transport sector. The National Approach to Transport Appraisal (NATA) requires that assessment of all transport schemes includes consideration of CO 2. Support for rail schemes under the Regional Funding Allocation will need to take account of these impacts. Passengers and freight customers expect the rail sector to live up to its role as a sustainable mode of transport. Quick wins to cut emissions by waste avoidance and landfill diversion will enhance reductions made through addressing rolling stock energy consumption. The Office of Rail Regulation has published key performance indicators for CO 2 emissions associated with rolling stock, and with the energy consumption needed to run rail infrastructure; performance indicators for waste production and recycling are still being defined. 2. reduce carbon emissions by: using locally available recycled aggregates rather than quarried aggregates from further away; making the most of in-situ materials and geosynthetic materials; and reducing the transportation associated with moving materials and coordinating projects across the rail sector to optimise material movements. The performance framework for local authorities is based on a series of National Indicators. National Indicator 185 aims to reduce the direct and indirect carbon emissions associated with local authority operations; it applies to the local authorities that form Passenger Transport Executives, and activities which minimise such emissions are likely to be welcomed. The Carbon Reduction Commitment, although not currently applied to railway works, calls for carbon emissions to be valued at 12 per tonne. Understanding and controlling such costs may become an important driver within future updates to this Commitment.

4 Taking the lead Co-ordinating with other local authority policies is a key element of transport management best practice. For example, Local Transport Plans (LTP) aim to embody the goals and objectives contained in corporate statements as well as delivering pre-requisite national objectives. Setting waste diversion objectives in the LTP links to other corporate policies and provides readily quantifiable mechanisms to progress towards waste, recycling, landfill diversion, CO 2 and other corporate targets. The sustainability of the local area and the management of assets to deliver value for money will also form part of the new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) in England. In its organisational assessment of councils, the CAA will consider the effective management of resources, including natural resources and physical assets. The assessment considers the authority s strategic approach to asset management, and its integration with corporate and service planning. Actions on sustainable development are important priorities for local authorities often delivered through the planning processes. National guidance for planning authorities clearly states that waste should be used as a resource wherever possible. Diverting waste from landfill and reducing carbon emissions in infrastructure asset management can form part of a continuous improvement process under office or project based environmental management systems. The principles behind reducing office waste and using more recycled supplies can equally be applied in public transport construction and maintenance projects; this demonstrates concerted action by the executive/authority engineering or maintenance department, and is a good model for other departments. 3. satisfy corporate stakeholders, such as: meeting the requirements of the Office of Rail Regulation; observing environmental objectives set by Passenger Transport Executives; and meeting the wider strategic objectives of the local authorities influencing projects. 4. demonstrate integrated action with: local authority transport policies; local planning policies which support sustainable construction practices; environmental management systems with a need for continuous improvement; and initiatives for tackling office waste and for purchasing office supplies with a high recycled content. 5. address government drivers, such as: WRAP s Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment this voluntary commitment is backed by the Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government, and by many government departments in England; the joint industry/government Strategy for Sustainable Construction for England which sets a target of halving construction, demolition and excavation waste to landfill by 2012; the Zero Waste Scotland vision, in addition to the Scottish Government having signed the Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment; and requirements by the Welsh Assembly Government, Northern Ireland Central Procurement Directorate and Scottish Government for publicly-funded construction to use 10% by value of recycled materials.

5 Delivering the benefits through procurement The diagram below shows the activities for the client and principal contractor during the life cycle of a civil engineering or infrastructure project, and the tools that are available to help at each stage. Client and principal contractor actions to reduce waste to landfill Project stage Action what you need to do Outcome what result you will get WRAP tools Policy Make a commitment on construction waste and include requirements in policy documents Corporate commitment demonstrates resolve to the supply chain. Documents can be referred to in subsequent stages WRAP Procurement Guidance Preparation & Design Set Pre-qualification Questionnaire and Invitation to Tender questions that test design team members (engineers and consultants) capability and relevant experience Appoint design team members, mandating waste reduction & recovery targets Prospective design team members will bid, trying to demonstrate capability and relevant previous experience Design team will set contractually binding waste reduction & recovery targets WRAP Procurement Guidance Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) Template Designing out Waste Tool for Civil Engineering & Net Waste Tool AggRegain modules and directories The client tenders and appoints principal contractor, establishing actions and assigning responsibilities through formal contract Principal contractor will be contractually required to deliver waste to landfill objectives and will pass this requirement to their supply chain WRAP Procurement Guidance Designing out Waste Tool for Civil Engineering & Net Waste Tool Pre-construction & Construction The principal contractor tenders and appoints subcontractors and waste management contractors, establishes actions and assigns responsibilities through formal contact, via negotiation or agreements made at meetings Sub-contractors and waste management contractors sign up to responsibilities and actions to deliver project-specific targets on waste reduction / waste recovery / waste recycling and use of recovered materials SWMP Template Waste Management Contractor Audit Protocol Site-Specific Waste Analysis Tool (SSWAT) AggRegain modules and directories Handover, Postcompletion & Use Collect contractual data from construction supply chain on waste to landfill KPIs and metrics Supply chain will report on agreed resource efficiency performance targets in a common format. This will allow the calculation of project waste metrics, waste performance baseline and (if baseline known) reduction in waste to landfill Net Waste Tool Reporting Portal SWMP Template Site-Specific Waste Analysis Tool (SSWAT) The critical action is to provide leadership and direction to the supply chain, and to guide the project team to ensure that waste and materials are addressed, measured and reported throughout a contract.

6 Where can I get more information? An extensive array of guidance and information is freely available from WRAP. Policy Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment Procurement Procurement Guidance for Building and Civil Engineering Design Designing out Waste Guidance for Civil Engineering Tools WRAP Resources guide Designing out Waste Tool for Civil Engineering Net Waste Tool Site Waste Management Plan Template WRAP AggRegain CO 2 Emissions Estimator Materials Recycled Product Directory WRAP AggRegain Recycled Aggregate Suppliers WRAP AggRegain Quality Protocol for Recycled Aggregates Other information sources include: Sustainable Development Strategy and Action Plan for Civil Engineering Office of Rail Regulation Office of Rail Regulation, Further Assessment of Approaches to Improve Efficiency Public Transport Executive Group International Association of Public Transport Investing in waste In 2005, Network Rail recycled 91% of ballast, and, where this could not be recycled on the rail network, it was sold on to be recycled by others. Currently, Network Rail is planning to invest in the development of recycling infrastructure at the Whitemoor Marshalling Yards including: track recycling; concrete sleeper recycling; wooden sleeper processing; ballast washing and recycling; and points and other rail recycling. When the redevelopment is complete, it aims to divert 500,000 concrete sleepers from landfill every year (about 117,000 tonnes of concrete) avoiding about 1.2 million pounds in landfill costs and about 65 tonnes of CO 2 in transport to landfill. Visit for more details on the proposals to develop Whitemoor Yard. 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 details, please refer to our Terms & Conditions on our website Waste & Resources Action Programme The Old Academy 21 Horse Fair Banbury, Oxon OX16 0AH Tel: Fax: info@wrap.org.uk Helpline freephone

Utilities: Waste less and save money

Cutting the cost of waste Utilities: Waste less and save money Procurement good practice for utility infrastructure construction and maintenance Who should read this leaflet? utility company senior managers;