Did you know that the construction industry accounts for almost a quarter (23%) of the plastic consumed in the UK?
Did you also know that every year, 40% of this plastic is sent to landfill? Amounting to 20,000 tonnes – this plastic waste weighs the same amount of two Eiffel Towers.
As a means of helping the construction industry lessen its plastic usage, Insulation Express has uncovered the practical solutions construction workers can utilise on a day-to-day basis: https://www.insulationexpress.co.uk/blog/can-uks-construction-lessen-plastic-usage/
Revealed: The Construction Sector’s Plastic Problem
- 95% of construction professionals admit that the industry needs to reduce its plastic use.
- Whilst the durability of plastic is useful, it’s also part of its demise – it can take up to 1000 years to decompose. And whilst it degrades, it contaminates our soil and oceans with the release of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases.
- Every year, the UK’s construction sector generates 50,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste – which is four times the weight of the Brooklyn Bridge.
- Reducing your plastic waste can be a financial benefit, too. One contractor, Risby Homes saved £13,000 on a 25-home development project – simply by reducing, reusing and recycling their plastic waste.
5 Ways to Reduce Plastic Waste in Construction
- A huge proportion of packaging thrown away can often be reused. Talk to your supplier to see if they can reduce their packaging, or take back the packaging to recycle yourself.
- Try and order your productions in bulk or larger packs. This will cut the volume of packaging per item, and reduce the need for multiple polypropylene bags.
- Use reusable plastic boxes to place and protect materials – before returning the boxes to the supplier.
- For the plastic packaging that can’t be recycled, send it to a licensed Waste Management Contractor. They are best placed to decide their destination.
- Use large sheets of plastic sheeting that arrived as wrapping for use on site as weather protection.
Interested in the full findings? https://www.insulationexpress.co.uk/blog/can-uks-construction-lessen-plastic-usage/