Over the past couple of month's I have been on a mission to drive out waste here at Land & Water.
Multiple studies show that wastage in the UK construction sector is between 30% and 38%, whilst the net profit margins of the 20 largest contractors averages below 5%. I’m appalled by the impact this is having on the environment which is why we need to open the dialogue of attacking waste to drive down the sector’s carbon footprint.
I have filmed a series of videos which identify key areas that can be tackled quickly by the sector in order to minimise time, energy and resources being wasted. Through these videos I highlight the bad practices being undertaken by Land & Water and how we are going to rectify this by having the right solutions in place.
At Land & Water, we pride ourselves on having conversations on anything that might make our business better. We hope that by being honest, showing warts and all, that this informs ourselves, our supply chain and other businesses within our sector. After all, attacking wastage improves your profit, lowers your impact on the planet and makes for a happier more productive project.
We have an internal goal of becoming carbon net zero by 2030 and so through these videos, which focus on damage and abuse, energy and travel, planning and co-ordination and people’s time, we are committed towards reducing our waste and our carbon footprint.
Here are some of the areas and solutions I discuss in the videos:
- Damaged and abused equipment has a massive impact on the environment. If a piece of machinery can no longer be used because it has been mistreated then that’s wasted carbon, wasted money in order to repair the machine, wasted time carrying out the repairs and an increase in pollution to obtain parts shipped or flown around the world. Land & Water has invested in education for Site Managers and Operatives on the use of equipment and its maintenance, we are re-training staff on their responsibilities and best practice. We have also created a reporting system whereby all damage can be highlighted and dealt with quickly.
- ?Land & Water purchases around 1.5 million litres of diesel, HVO or gas oil per year. Every litre burnt emits 2.25 kilos of carbon in to the atmosphere even during idle time. According to data shared with us from equipment manufacturers Caterpillar and Hitachi, the average engine idle time is 32%-37% for 20t – 25t excavators in the UK. That’s +30% more servicing than the machine requires, +30% more engineers mileage, +30% more service parts from across the world and +30% more time that construction workers spend travelling to sites to fix any problems.
- ?Land & Water’s idle time is between 20% - 23%. 50% of our fleet now has auto switch off after five minutes of idle time and we are making a conscious decision to only invest in equipment in the future which has this ability.
- ?Everyone in the industry chain must take responsibility for planning and using materials effectively and this includes looking at the weather. Our HSQE team send out daily weather bulletins so works can be organised and waste is driven out. The bulletins are targeted regionally so that site teams are able to prepare, take preventative or defensive actions, or even take advantage of appropriate conditions. Wind, rainfall, heat, frost, fog, tide, drought and daylight times all influence productivity and reading the weather in advance can be the difference between winning and a loss-making day. It is also a way we can get used to the effects of climate change in the workplace.
My motto is that responsibility can be broken down into two words, response and ability. We all have the ability at every level and within every role to respond to waste and it’s time the industry took action in order to drive down our carbon footprint.
Join me in the fight to tackle waste.
What a Waste introduction
Planning and coordination
Managing Director at SHAMROCK CONSTRUCTION AND CIVIL ENGINEERING LIMITED
2 年Fantastic James
Love it James - great leadership. Response - Ability. If not us, then who, if not now, then when. We need and respect business leaders like you who are not waiting for anyone else to sort it. Kudos.
Terahash.Finance | Be on both sides of Energy-Money ??Aerospace Engineering & Risk Management
2 年James Maclean How has your repurposed wood>pellet business developed the years? I have a few ideas for you!