Recycling levels at London 2012 Olympic site below NFDC national average?
It was heralded as an opportunity to highlight all that is good about UK construction and demolition. But while work remains on schedule, a comment in a new report from Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) suggests that the level of demolition waste recycling on London’s 2012 Olympic site is, in fact, below the average set by the members of the UK’s National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC).
NFDC members, who are responsible for more than 80% of all the UK’s demolition, regularly achieve recycling levels of more than 95%. However, according to the pithily-titled Time for a New Age: Halving Waste to Landfill – Seize the Opportunity from WRAP, the UK’s flagship project – under the full glare of the media spotlight – is achieving levels that are closer to the 90% mark.
Keith Clarke, chief executive of Atkins, says: “We’ve already demonstrated – at the Olympic park enabling works for example – that it is possible to reclaim or recycle more than 90% of materials from demolition works. This is universally achievable, but we can do even better if we can get the effort and commitment from clients, contractors and designers collectively to work this out so we’re designing out waste right from the start of every project.”
Admittedly, these figures are well beyond those that remain little more than an item on a wish-list in the US, it is nevertheless surprising that the showcase project of the moment should fall short of what is being achieved on more run-of-the-mill works.
Read the full report here.
