Red Rhino Seminar A Crushing Success!
The ‘Join the green revolution' article (published by the Executive Hire News, April 2008 issue), highlighted the significant challenges the construction industry are facing and the huge opportunities for hire companies, investing in the correct recycling equipment to meet the demands of the industry. .
Government estimates suggest that more than 20% of waste materials from construction sites can be saved by re-use and recycling. The construction industry is the UK's biggest consumer of natural resources; using over 400 million tonnes of material per year and generating more than one-third of the waste in the UK - of which only half is re-used or recycled! Over 60 million tonnes is sent to landfill every year.
It has become apparent that the building and construction industry simply lacks the knowledge of how effective onsite recycling could be for increasing their profits, and benefitting the environment (and their environmental image). Therefore Red Rhino took the initiative to demonstrate to the plant hire and construction & building industry the benefits of recycling demolition waste - thereby cutting operational costs, greatly reducing waste going to landfill and further extraction of aggregate.
The half day seminar included guest speakers from industry recognized organizations; it also included the opportunity to see the range of crushers in action at the Red Rhino factory, with plenty of opportunity to network with other organizations, companies and owners.
Mr Graham Bishop from the Wales Environment Trust delivered a presentation including valuable topics such as the Trust's Aggregate Programme, the ‘drivers' for Recycling, ‘WRAP Quality Protocol, and European Standards, Specification for Highway Works and also Examples of Recycling.
Graham has been the Business Development Manager for the Trust since February 2005, with responsibilities for their Aggregate Program and the develo0pment of the markets for recycled and secondary aggregates. He is a fellow member of the Institute of Asphalt Technology, the Institute of Quarrying and the Institute of Highways and Transportation. He previously worked in the quarrying and asphalt industry for 40 years, in Technical and Quality Management. Whilst working in the quarrying industry, he represented his employers on the Quarry Products Association's Asphalt Technical Panel.
Kathy Morrisey from WSP Environmental Ltd has been the Principal Consultant for the past 5 years, providing consultancy services to a wide range of sectors which include construction, professional services, manufacturing and logistics.
Kathy's main focus is on EMS and waste management. BAA Stansted was one of her larger projects and was appointed as their interim waste manager for 2 years and is a dedicated member of the Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Her message during the presentation was very powerful and stirred a lot of questions from the audience. She outlined some of the most common construction and demolition costs involved in most regular projects and emphasize the fact that companies waste approximately 5% of their profit on waste removal alone! This does not even include costs such as buying aggregate in, manpower, and the all important; ‘helping to destroy our planet!'
Kathy also explained how site waste management plans are a positive new procedure; how they will improve resource efficiency within the construction industry, how it will reduce waste costs and how it will help prevent waste crime and reduce fly-tipping.
The final guest speaker was John Woodward who trained as a Civil Engineer before moving into demolition in 1995. He worked for various companies in the North and Midlands before starting his own successful business, C & D Consultancy. Woodward is committed to safe demolition techniques and training, and encouraging the next generation of demolition engineers. He has served on the Institute of Demolition Engineers Council of Management for three years and has been the Institute's Seminar director for the last eighteen months. He is also a member of The National Federation of Demolition Constructors.
John introduced the IDE as an organisation that exists to promote and foster the science of demolition engineering and to provide a forum to exchange best practices within demolition. The NFDC help their members to demolish, dismantle or recycle safely and environmentally by encouraging strict adherence to the very latest guidelines and Codes of Practice and by encouraging the training of all demolition personnel.
He explained with absolute clarity just how expensive it could be when demolishing a huge project such as a tower block of 20,000 tonnes. He shocked the audience with landfill costing at £35.00 per tonne - when it could cost you approximately £2.00 per tonne when crushing onsite. This highlighted a real saving of £33.00 per tonne and a £660,000.00 saving in total!
"The day was very successful and the level of interest was unexpected. We therefore have decided to hold similar seminars in the near future where related industries can learn more about the latest regulations and trends, and can also freely ask questions and get informative answers", says Marelize Campbell, Red Rhino Marketing Manager.
The next seminar will be in October 2008, if you would like to be informed of any developments or the latest news on this, please email marelize@redrhinocrushers.com or contact 01296 310 610.