As the largest carbon store on earth, soil is vital in our journey towards net zero, and a key player for project managers striving to further reduce their emissions output.
As construction companies strive to maintain costs, maximise resource efficiency and achieve recycling and sustainability targets, the reuse and transfer of waste soils leaves many project managers baffled by environmental compliance. This process is one of the most common on construction sites, and, when naturally occurring, the use of soil on site should theoretically be a straightforward process.
However, the statistics governing soil reuse are staggering.
The Environment Agency estimate that 1 billion tonnes of soil and aggregates are still sent to landfill (from construction activities) each year, with no formal measures in place to prevent this from happening.
This is where we can help; contacting A & J Waste Services at the earliest stage of any project can prove invaluable. We can work with you from the outset to investigate your site; testing soils to assess and categorise material, administering to the requirements of environmental permits, waste exemptions and Materials Management Plans (MMPs). These investigations provide us with an early insight of how we can help your organisation hit sustainability targets by informing us if existing material can be repurposed or what else can be done to help reduce any environmental impact. More on this below.
A & J WASTE SERVICES WORKING WITH CL:AIRE
We’re proud to be a Principal member of CL:AIRE and we share in their commitment to sustainable land reuse and development. CL:AIRE is an independent body that promotes the sustainable remediation of contaminated land and groundwater.
As part of its work, it has developed a Definition of Waste Code of Practice (DoWCoP) to provide a clear, consistent and efficient process to enable the reuse of excavated material without it being classified as a waste.
A & J Waste Services Ltd have an experienced team who are qualified to implement the CL:AIRE DoWCoP and produce Materials Management Plans for your developments. Every development site should use this process to enable the clear use of any site-won materials to show that developers and construction companies are not discarding or using material outside of waste legislation.
Whatever the size or nature of your project our team can help you identify the best Materials Management solution for your sites enabling the repurposing of soils. By implementing the CL:AIRE (DoWCoP) across your developments this will help to achieve cost savings and minimise your waste disposal and haulage requirements and in turn helping to reduce your carbon footprint.
Take a look at our website for further information and check out our LinkedIn page. To talk through your requirements with one of our friendly team, please call 01749 880051 or email soils@ajws.co.uk
(References taken from Ground Engineering Magazine).