Now or Never commits us to eliminate all avoidable waste from the demolition, excavation and construction phrases of our projects. Where waste is unavoidable it will be recovered at the highest possible level of the waste hierarchy.
Throughout 2024, our waste strategy continued to focus on the reduction, prevention and removal of three key waste types - Construction, Demolition and Excavation. Eliminating waste makes us more efficient, reduces our consumption of natural resources and supports our transition away from the ‘take-make-dispose' model of delivery. We tailor our efforts based on our level of control, prioritising the reduction of construction waste, which falls under within our remit, while aiming to maximise recovery of non-hazardous demolition waste and reuse of excavation waste.
Construction Waste
By 2030,We will eliminate all avoidable construction waste and divert any non-hazardous unavoidable waste from landfill.
Waste reporting
From the start of 2024, we rolled out the implementation of BRE’s waste management system, SmartWaste, which automates collection of environmental data from the waste supply chain. As part of the transition, we switched our reporting from volume (m³) to weight (tonnes) as this is a more accurate way to capture our waste performance data. We have re-baselined our Now or Never performance and will continue to only report in tonnes going forward.
2024: Construction waste weight and intensity
|
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Waste volume (tonnes) |
33,614 |
32,226 |
29,374 |
22,485 |
21,411 |
23,640 |
22,372 |
|
Waste intensity (tonnes/£1m) |
25.40 |
25.86 |
24.66 |
20.41 |
18.66 |
20.17 |
19.34 |
(Previous reporting methodology: construction waste volume and intensity)
|
|
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Waste volume (m3) |
116,000 |
91,000 |
114,000 |
96,000 |
72,000 |
73,000 |
73,000 |
70,000 |
69,000 |
53,000 |
49,000 |
49,926 |
|
Waste intensity (m3/£1m) |
126.6 |
101.5 |
137.8 |
85.8
|
66.9 |
56.2 |
55.5 |
56.5 |
57.6 |
48.2 |
42.59 |
42.60 |
Construction Waste performance
During 2024, all our projects continued to create bespoke construction waste elimination plans, which include absolute waste reduction targets. Making robust plans and setting clear targets has enabled us to reduce our construction waste by 33% in 2024 from our 2018 baseline. Our construction waste intensity (relative to turnover) reduced by 22% in 2024.
In collaboration with our waste partners and our new reporting system, SmartWaste, we collected automated data from 35 sites, improving the accuracy of our waste data. Throughout 2025, we will be working closely with our waste partners to improve data performance and accuracy, whilst prioritising digital uploads of waste data.
Reuse and Recycling
Where we cannot (yet) reduce our waste, we support the circular economy approach to waste reduction, through the waste hierarchy by doing what we can to reuse and recycle.
We work with the Pallet Loop to re-use and repair pallets from our sites. During 2024, the Pallet Loop has collected 15,846 pallets (green and white) from over 70 Willmott Dixon construction sites across the UK, diverting them from traditional wood skips.
By working with Pallet Loop, we’ve reduced wood waste from our sites by 222 tonnes, resulting in a 789kg fall in carbon emissions from our operations. This sustainable approach is also more efficient, reducing our single use timber requirement by 475m3 and saving £69,333 in waste disposal costs.
During 2024, we have continued to implement our procurement standard to reduce single-use plastic items in our offices.
Our people have also supported social businesses in the areas where we work that exemplify sustainable practices.
At Oxford Brookes University's Headington Hill campus, we worked with RAW Workshop, who collected 12,780kg of waste wood for reuse to produce high-quality indoor and outdoor furniture.
Members of our Interiors team, working on a new forensics centre for Thames Valley Police, were keen to save unused plumbing materials from a skip, so working in partnership with a local college, were able to donate for use in their Level 1 and 2 plumbing courses (right).
Non-hazardous construction waste diverted from landfill
Where there is no other option and all levels of the waste hierarchy have been explored, we are committed to reducing the amount of non-hazardous construction waste that goes to landfill. By 2030, 100% of our non-hazardous construction waste will be recovered at the highest possible level of the waste hierarchy.
In 2024, we maintained a strong performance to ensure all non-hazardous construction waste was diverted from landfill. Transitioning to our new environmental management system, SmartWaste, has improved the accuracy of our data collection, resulting in a slight drop in recorded diversion rates for 2024.
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
90% |
>95% |
96.7% |
>96% |
98.6% |
99.0% |
98.7% |
98.43% |
98.1% |
95% |
Demolition and Excavation Waste
Demolition and excavation waste encompass a broad range of materials originating from the dismantling of existing structures and the digging of new foundations. Demolition waste includes concrete, bricks, metals, timber and plastics whereas excavation waste is primarily soil, rock and other natural materials. Because the materials may contain hazardous substances from asbestos to lead paint, sustainable waste management depends on proper management of these waste streams. We have meticulous segregation and disposal procedures in place to mitigate environmental risks and optimise opportunities to recycle and reuse these materials, which can often be used again in the construction phase.
- By 2030 we will reuse 100% of non-hazardous excavation arising from our sites as a material where technically and practicably possible (either onsite or offsite)
- Where we are required to carry out demolition or excavation work on our projects, our goal is to minimise waste sent to landfill.
2023 demolition and excavation waste diverted from landfill
|
Year |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Demolition Waste |
95.0% |
95.6% |
92.1% |
91.02% |
90.59% |
99% |
|
Excavation Waste |
56.9% |
84.5% |
80.0% |
77.26% |
73.89% |
68% |
Our 2024 performance has remained consistent as we continue to work with our key demolition and excavation partners. Transitioning to our new environmental management system during 2024 has meant standard diversion rates of 50% - 80% were used by some sites, lowering the overall percentage of excavated waste diverted from landfill. Looking ahead, the new system has helped identify areas for improvement and we will be implementing new procedures throughout 2025 to improve our excavation performance and reporting.
Our focus for 2025/2026 will be to work closer with our demolition and excavation waste contractors through implementing material management plans and demolition audits to recover demolition waste and reuse excavated arisings). We saw some genuine success stories such as our TBC.London Project for FORE partnership. This development includes the largest percentage reclaimed material we have ever used in a project and is the first UK construction project to reuse steel from a pre-1940s building.
In 2024, the transition to and implementation of BRE’s environmental management system, SmartWaste, allows us to collect accurate data and report reuse of material for the first time. Our focus for 2025, with the help of SmartWaste, is to find ways to reuse the earth that is excavated from our sites, so that we avoid it becoming a waste (rather than aiming to divert waste away from landfill).