Bovis Lend Lease Ltd - Project NoWaste NoW

Three tools included in the Project NoWaste Programme

Project NoWaste (NoW) is an innovative collaboration between Bovis Lend Lease and Greenfile Developments Ltd, addressing some of the practical issues in more sustainable construction.

The project arose from the involvement of Bovis Lend Lease in the Building London Creating Futures initiative, which is aimed at providing opportunities in construction to unrepresented social groups and the long term unemployed, and a subsequent pilot programme also involving Greenfile Developments, Bovis Lend Lease, UCATT, and Business Link for London as part of the Carbon Trust's programme.

One of the major issues facing the construction industry is waste. It has been estimated that 15-20% of all building materials entering a construction site end up in skips. This is incongruent with the Climate Change Levy sector energy saving targets of 10% for the construction materials sector.

Project NoW addresses this through actions at construction site level to reduce waste by awareness raising and skills development. Part of the outcome is, therefore, skills development in management of waste. It is important for construction site teams to become more aware of their personal responsibilities towards waste reduction and the development of these skills will enable any architect/designer (or project manager) to direct actions to reduce waste to be implemented more effectively.

The programme is based around the 5 "S" principles - Sort, Set, Shine, Standardise and Sustain, and provides training and skill development in practical waste management techniques leading to National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) which are awarded by the WAMITAB - the Waste Management Industry Training and Advisory Board.

Project NoW was also developed to tackle some of the other significant issues faced by the construction industry.

Screen shot from training programme

49% of accidents on construction sites are due to poor housekeeping and site layout (HSE, October 2003) - Project NoW contributes to the Bovis Lend Lease Incident and Injury Free philosophy aimed at changing the mindset, attitude and culture towards health and safety issues.
Strengthening positive social impacts offered by construction through training and skill development.
Strengthening relationships with the community through involvement with local educational establishments and helping people on the 'qualifications ladder'.
Improving management of environmental risks.

Linking lean construction techniques to waste reduction and skills development, the project was first trialled at Project W8 on London's Regent Street with Clipfine, a logistics contractor, raising awareness and skills for their operatives on site. The initiative has also since been in operation at another Bovis Lend Lease construction site at Chelsea Bridge Wharf with Munnelly's, another logistics contractor.

The programme is currently in progress at Unilever House where all construction trades, not just logistics contractors are involved from site induction, through toolbox talks and refresher training.

Graph illustrating KPI achieved at Project W8, vs other projects where no special training or awareness measures were taken.

Achievements to date:

18 Operatives trained to Level 1 and Level 2 NVQ in Waste Management at Chelsea Bridge Wharf and Project W8, Regent Street.
Waste Monitoring using BRE's SMARTStart indicates up to a 5% improvement in benchmark scores using the DTI Waste Key Performance Indicator (m3/£100k) over projects where no special training or awareness measures were taken.

Wallace House, 17-21 Maxwell Place,
Stirling, FK8 1JU
Tel: 01786 468 789 Fax: 01786 464 611