Site Waste Management Plan SWMP

Site waste is harmful to the environment and costly to business. DEFRA (department of environment, food and rural affairs) introduced Site Waste Management Plans in April 2008 to help tackle this.

Who is affected by an SWMP?
It is now a legal requirement in England for anyone carrying out a construction project, which began after the 6th April 2008 with a project value over £300,000 to have an SWMP in place.

Why do you need an SWMP?
The SWMP is designed to help protect the environment by encouraging anyone who is carrying out a construction project to plan, manage and reduce the amount of waste they produce, which means less waste going to landfill.

11 Step Compliance Programme
An SWMP (Site Waste Management Plan) is now required for every construction project over £300,000

In summary, the SWMP is a document that lays out how the construction process waste is to be managed. The main/prime contractor is responsible for developing the SWMP and the legislation imposes obligations on clients also. At present there is no requirement to submit an SWMP for approval to any authoritative body, but a copy must be held on site for the duration of the works and could be subject to inspection by local authority or environment inspectors.

The following step-by-step process will help you to ensure your SWMP complies.

1 Outline the project details in the plan including:. project name, location, value and who is responsible for producing and up dating the SWMP.

2: List the waste types that will be generated during the project and estimate if possible the quantities of each.

3: Decide on your waste strategy i.e. segregation on site, off site or both and state your arrangements for the site skips or disposal method.

4: Nominate your chosen waste contractor(s).

5: Obtain your waste contractor’s waste carriers and management license details and the registered disposal address from your waste contractor and enter these details onto the SWMP.

6: Make sure that your staff and all site sub-contractors that will be involved with the project are aware of and sign up to the SWMP arrangements.

7: Your waste contractor must provide you with dates, transfer notes, volumes and types of waste removed from site and this must be recorded in the plan. A periodic review of these may provide information to help you reduce and recover more waste from similar projects in the future.

8: Keep the SWMP up to date including modifications to the original plan.

9: Compare the generated waste against your estimates and, if they differ significantly, you can use this information to better plan the next project

10: Review and sign off your plan on completion. Discuss the project and SWMP with colleagues and clients to identify ways of reducing the amount of waste arising and how to recycle the waste to minimize landfill.

11: Remember to keep your plan and all relevant information safe for 2 years.

The Facts
- Average cost of 8 cubic yard skip £150.00
- Average cost of waste thrown in the skip £1,200.00
- In the UK it is estimated that 13% of materials delivered to site are not used or damaged and end up in the site skip.
- UK produces approximately 72 million tonnes of waste from the construction industry, which is the equivalent of 1.45 tonnes of waste for every single person in the UK.
Source: www.netregs.gov.uk