Best performing companies save 27% costs on remediation of contaminated sites

The report, Benchmarking Remediation Performance 2001, by the BTI Consulting Group based in Boston, USA, draws on key remediation managers sampled from the 2,500 largest industrial companies in the world. The companies studied were taken from a range of industries, including the oil, paper, pharmaceutical, electronics, metals and mining, transportation, and electricity industries.

The research shows that a typical company spends $4.9 million to effectively close a contaminated site, whilst the most effective companies spend only $3.5 million. These successful companies have adopted a centralised management approach, with uniform work processes, whilst the less effective companies build individual work activities around each site and sub task, says the report.

“Companies that develop a uniform approach save money and enjoy a better response from regulators,” said Michael B Rynowecer, President of the BTI Consulting Group. “These companies are building economies of scale around their work processes, leveraging pockets of excellence and spending more time on agency relations, adding another boost to the process.”

The study also shows that remediation managers set high targets for the number of contaminated sites that they will be able to close in the next three to five years, aiming to remediate 40% of their sites. “Companies have set some aggressive goals,” said Rynowecer. “Business discipline is getting companies there faster.”

“Our goal in developing this analysis is to help you improve your remediation programme’s performance,” says the report. Companies can use analysis of their own remediation programmes against the data from best practice in the to see where their company stands, says BTI. Managers can also use the 10 steps to better performance and 35 field-tested remediation management best practices included in the report in order to pinpoint their company’s strengths and find opportunities for improvement.