Olympic commitment on waste praised

In January the Olympic Development Authority (ODA) pledged to recycle or reuse 90% of the demolition waste created as it clears sites for redevelopment and promised that at least 20% of materials used in permanent venues and the Olympic Village would be recycled (see related story).

Most of the demolition materials will be used as aggregates in road building and foundations.

Now the chief executive Government-funded Waste & Recycling Action Programme (WRAP) has heaped praise on the plans, calling it the most significant move yet from the construction sector on materials efficiency.

“The ODA is genuinely leading the way,” said Ms Price.

“The 20% requirement for the use of recycled materials strikes the right balance between being achievable but stretching for the industry. WRAP is also confident that performance against these targets will be simple to measure and that achieving them will bring commercial as well as environmental benefits.

“Higher recycled content not only diverts waste from landfill but can reduce overall environmental impacts, while the local reprocessing of site demolition materials has obvious carbon benefits relative to importing crushed rock.

“The ODA strategy should be seen as a strong indication of what is to come in the future specification, procurement and management of construction in the UK.”

WRAP already provides tools and support to help the construction industry respond to the growing requirement to demonstrate more efficient use of resources.

These include an interactive Recycled Content Toolkit and comprehensive online advice on recycled and secondary aggregates.

Sam Bond