Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Every aspect of a construction business can have an impact on the environment. At  Osborne, we work hard to minimise ours. In the last year on site, we have recycled or reused 97% of our skip waste, resulting in only 3% going to landfill.

One of our recent initiatives has seen us reusing topsoil, which had been excavated at our site for the new Portesbery School in Deepcut, Camberley. This was then transported to our Tavistock School project in Fleet, to meet their topsoil requirements. As such, this further emphasized good communication and planning between our projects procured through the iESE framework, as well as saving money on muckaway costs by reusing the materials.

Further to this, we are also segregating waste on site through the use of separate 8-yard skips for plasterboard, timber, metal and general waste. To ensure correct usage, each type has different coloured and labelled wheelie bins in site offices, which are then emptied into the appropriate skip at the end of each day. Importance on this environmentally friendly method of working is made of importance to operatives at their induction, alongside on-site team briefings on the subject.

 There are considerable number of benefits to segregating waste, including:

• Reduced environmental impact –a higher proportion of waste is recycled and reused.
• Encouraging good housekeeping –a cleaner and tidier site as everyone makes a conscious effort to put waste in the relevant disposal unit rather than having rubbish accumulate on site.
• Reduced costs – it is much cheaper to pay for segregated waste bins. General waste skips are more expensive so the more waste that is segregated, the less general waste skips you have to pay for.

 We help our customers make eco-friendly decisions and we try to use that influence to encourage more efficient construction techniques, and the use of recycled and sustainable materials.