Wates Group Discusses Sending Zero Waste to Landfill

In 2006 Rachel Woolliscroft set out to reduce the amount of construction waste Wates was sending to landfill. The disposal was costing Wates over £3.5 million pounds a year. Rachel set a target for all of the firm’s non-hazardous waste to be recycled by 2010.

Her campaign started with an initiative to encourage construction sites to separate their waste to make it easier to recycle with limited success. Rachel then turned her attention to the firm’s waste contractors. She encouraged Wates to put in place long term trading agreements with waste companies that were prepared to invest in segregation facilities at their depots.

The solution was a success. As a result of Rachel’s campaign, the amount of waste Wates’ now sends to landfill has been reduced from 47% in 2005 to just 5% in 2010. “This campaign continues to be a catalyst to drive engagement around the sustainability agenda,” she says.