Our Projects

PTZW has carried out considerable consultation amongst public and private sector stakeholders to identify the key barriers preventing the reduction, reuse, recycling and energy recovery of construction materials, and is progressing a number of projects to tackle these barriers simultaneously and in an integrated, systematic way.

The projects fall under four key themes:

• Theme 1: Creating Demand
• Theme 2: Market Development
• Theme 3: Infrastructure
• Theme 4: Sharing best practice
  

Click on the headings above for an overview of each theme and the projects that relate to it.

Theme 1: Creating demand
By increasing demand for reclaimed, secondary and recycled content materials in construction, PTZW will simultaneously increase demand for the ‘raw products’ needed by reuse and recycling organisations to produce them – in other words, material currently going to landfill. This will also preserve increasingly scarce virgin materials such as sand, gravels and minerals, which will not need to be excavated in such large quantities.

Project 1a: Planning and procurement recommendations for local authorities
PTZW has identified local authorities as being in a strong position to influence the resource-efficient management of materials on all large construction projects through the planning process, and also, as major construction clients themselves, through their own procurement processes.

It is developing a set of simple planning requirements which, if adopted by planning authorities, could drive a huge – and measurable - reduction in the volumes of construction material that is sent to landfill from the projects they permit.

In conjunction with its partner WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) PTZW is also helping local authorities adapt their own construction procurement processes to ensure that they are making a direct contribution themselves to increasing demand for reclaimed, secondary and recycled content materials and decreasing the amount of construction material going to landfill.

PTZW is running a series of events during March 2011 to promote its recommendations to local authorities. Click here for further information.
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Theme 2: Market development
Buying, selling and exchanging material for reuse or recycling that would otherwise go to landfill is not as easy as it could be in the South East. The fact that large volumes of material that could be reused or recycled end up in landfill is a sign of market failure. PTZW aims to help address this failure.

Project 2a: Secondary materials commodity market
PTZW commissioned a pre-feasibility study for a pilot commodity market for secondary materials to be established, the aim of which would be to see if a commodity market boosted trade in the material in question and resulted in an accompanying reduction in the amounts going to landfill. The study found that there was sufficient evidence to suggest a commodity market may be viable, and that further research should be carried out. This work is being carried forward by European Pathway To Zero Waste (EPOW). The PTZW prefeasibility report can be viewed or downloaded here.

Project 2b: Trade association and one-stop-shop portal
PTZW research and consultation with existing construction materials reuse/exchange organisations and their users, identified two opportunities for change which could make a significant contribution to the growth of these organisations and the amount of material they divert from landfill. These were:

• the establishment of a trade association to represent the specific interests of materials reuse and exchange organisations to Government and industry
• the development of a one-stop-shop portal enabling customers to buy consolidated quantities of materials held by a number of different member organisations as a single transaction.

PTZW is now developing business cases for both, setting out the preferred operating model, investment required, benefits analysis and including an implementation action plan and timetable. The business cases will be tested with stakeholders to ensure they are fit for purpose, and will then be publicised in order to gain commitment from a third party organisation (or group of organisations) to take the business cases forward.
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Theme 3: Infrastructure
Getting the mix of reuse and recycling facilities right is absolutely vital to ensure that as much material as possible is diverted from landfill.

Project 3a: CMRF business cases
PTZW is developing two business cases for specialist construction materials recycling facilities (CMRFs) plugging identified gaps in the region’s existing capability.

The business cases will set out the operating model, investment required and expected return on investment.
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Theme 4: Sharing best practice
Identifying and sharing best practice to encourage widespread deployment of ‘resource efficient’ approaches in construction is an important part of what PTZW does.

Project 4a: Guidance for small builders
PTZW is developing practical ‘how to’ guidance for small building and construction firms, setting out the approaches they can employ during both the design and build phases of a project to reduce the amount of materials they use, and waste, and to ensure they reuse and recycle as much as possible.

In March, PTZW is also running four workshops specifically for smaller construction companies, to help them identify and implement methods for using materials more efficiently on site.

Click here for further details.

Project 4b: South East Sustainable Construction Group
The South East Sustainable Construction Group (SESCG) was formed in 2009 by Remade South East, a not-for-profit company specialising in diverting valuable materials away from landfill and into new products and other end-uses by implementing reuse and recycling schemes.

Recognising that a huge quantity of useable material was ending up in landfill as a result of construction activity in the region, and that a number of public sector and not-for-profit organisations were delivering projects to tackle this issue, Remade South East brought these organisations together as SESCG and provided a voluntary, co-ordinating role to maximise the impact of members’ activities by helping them to work together in an integrated, supportive way.

In 2010, PTZW provided support through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to expand the remit of SESCG and enable it to provide a range of knowledge sharing and best practice demonstration activities aimed at technical experts from the construction and waste management industries.

SESCG is now running a series of free events which are open to any organisation involved in construction and interested in:

• lowering their carbon footprint
• understanding new legislation
• learning potential cost-saving methods.

For a full listing of current SESCG and PTZW events, click here.