Gypsum Road
The first annual report into the progress of the Ashdown Agreement has revealed that, thanks to the successful implementation of measures such as its Plasterboard Recycling Service (PRS), British Gypsum is leading the field when it comes to recycling and waste reduction. Figures published in the report show the company has played a major role in helping the industry in its bid to reduce the amount of plasterboard sent to landfill.
British Gypsum was instrumental in developing the Ashdown Agreement, which came into force in April 2007. A voluntary arrangement between the Gypsum Products Development Association (GDPA) and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), it set out to work towards the objective of zero waste through collaboration with other stakeholders.
Two specific targets were included in the agreement: first, to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill from all plasterboard manufacturing operations in the UK to 10,000 tonnes per year (equivalent to about 0.4 per cent wastage); second, to increase the take back and recycling of plasterboard waste, for use in manufacture, to 50 per cent of new construction waste (the total of which is currently estimated at 300,000 tonnes) by 2010.
Currently the only gypsum company in the UK with dedicated plasterboard recycling plants, British Gypsum recycled nearly 41,000 tonnes of construction plasterboard waste back into new products last year, representing a four-fold
increase since 2002. More than 75% of all post-consumer plasterboard waste reprocessed into new plasterboard in the UK is handled through the company's PRS, which was highlighted as the most cost effective alternative to landfill in a case study by WRAP.{mosimage}
Over the last five years, British Gypsum has also reduced the amount of manufacturing waste it sends to landfill by 95 per cent, even though output increased by more than 30 per cent over the same period. Investment in expanding recycling capacity at its plant in Robertsbridge, near Hastings to provide a broader and more effective infrastructure for its national recycling operations, coupled with continuous improvements in plant efficiencies, enabled the company to close its last remaining landfill site in the UK in 2007.
Other innovative measures taken by British Gypsum to improve processes throughout the supply chain include fostering partnerships with smaller waste management companies to offer recycling solutions that are more customer-focussed and provide greater flexibility at a local level. It is also working with housebuilders to analyse waste arising from particular housing types to help customers address high waste producing sites and identify the most sustainable housing designs in terms of energy usage, resource efficiency and wastage.
Thanks to the work of British Gypsum and combined efforts of the industry, the Ashdown Agreement's landfill disposal
targets for 2010 have been met in year one. As a result, the target to reduce the amount of manufacturing waste sent to landfill has been tightened from 10,000 tonnes to 7,500 tonnes per year. British Gypsum's own rate of improvement is well ahead of the industry trend.
Mike Chaldecott, managing director of British Gypsum, comments: "Such significant progress in year one is a remarkable achievement and we are proud that British Gypsum has been so instrumental in helping to drive the process of continuous improvement.
"Challenging market conditions, combined with increases in landfill tax and the implementation of Site Waste Management Plans for projects over £300,000 earlier this year, mean there is increasing pressure on construction clients to cut costs. As a result, companies throughout the supply chain need to work together to increase resource efficiency and reduce waste. British Gypsum is ideally placed to help businesses achieve this to ensure the vision of a sustainable future becomes a reality."
The annual report of the Ashdown Agreement is available from www.wrap.org.uk/ashdown
