First English council signs WRAP’s agreement to halve waste to landfill
Manchester City Council has become the first English council to sign up to WRAP’s (Waste & Resources Action Programme) Halving Waste to Landfill voluntary agreement.
By making this commitment Manchester joins leading clients, contractors and retailers such as Network Rail, Laing O’Rourke, Balfour Beatty, Asda and Marks & Spencer.
Reducing construction waste has become a key objective for the industry as it seeks to cut the costs of waste disposal and save on the value of wasted materials. As well as these financial gains, there are environmental benefits due to restricted landfill capacity and reduced demand for primary resources.
Manchester City Council has committed to making sustainability and the environment a key priority moving forward. John Frubin, Programme Design and Sustainability Manager for Manchester City Council said “We are absolutely delighted to be the first English council to sign up to WRAP's voluntary agreement. We are keen to make the Council as green and sustainable as possible in all aspects of our work and signing up to WRAP’s Construction Commitment: Halving Waste to Landfill is a demonstration of our drive to achieving the target of halving the amount of waste we send to landfill by 2012.”
Mike Watson, WRAP’s Head of Construction commented “We are pleased that Manchester City Council has become the first English council to sign up to the Halving Waste to Landfill voluntary agreement. Organisations signing to the Halving Waste to Landfill voluntary agreement are demonstrating that they take the issue of waste seriously and recognise that it is critical to reduce the 25 million tonnes of construction waste which is dumped in landfill every year. Signatories to WRAP’s agreement will benefit not only from cost savings and greater resource efficiency, but also play their part in combating climate change”.
Since its launch in October 2008, over 80 organisations have signed up to WRAP’s voluntary agreement. For more information on the Halving Waste To Landfill agreement – including how to sign up - visit the WRAP website www.wrap.org.uk/construction or call the WRAP helpline on 0808 100 2040.
Click here to view the full list of signatories to the Construction Commitments: Halving Waste to Landfill.
Editor's notes:
- WRAP helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change.
- Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by government funding from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.
- More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found on http://www.wrap.org.uk/
