Prefab, offsite building can cut waste

A not-for-profit company created by the government to deal with waste strategy in the UK has found that off-site manufacture of parts for homes could result in a significant amount of waste reduction.

The new report compiled by the Waste & Resources Action Programme, states that up to 90 per cent of waste used in the building process through materials such as plasterboard, timber, bricks and cement, could be reduced.

Other measures which the report identifies could help to reduce waste on building sites include using prefabricated kitchen and bathroom technology and pre-cast concrete, timber and light steel frame systems, among others.

Mervyn Jones, WRAP''s construction programme manager for waste minimisation at WRAP said: "Off-site manufacture has already been shown to provide a number of benefits to the construction industry, but we wanted to develop firm evidence that confirmed the potential benefits in terms of reducing the amount of waste the industry contributes to landfill."

Mr Jones speculates that increased use of off-site manufacture and innovative methods of construction could help to reduce waste by up to 50 per cent by 2012.


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