A bold target for diverting waste from landfill of 80% has been reached by Cemex UK. Two years ago the business invested in a new strategy, Recycle R8, in partnership with waste provider Biffa, to drastically reduce the amount sent to landfill and increase recycling. Today, Recycle R8 has delivered concrete results with 80% waste diverted from landfill and recycling reaching 49%. “Cemex UK is a ‘waste eater’, we now consume 80 times more waste than we send to landfill. For example, in cement and concrete w
A bold target for diverting waste from landfill of 80% has been reached by Cemex UK. Two years ago the business invested in a new strategy, Recycle R8, in partnership with waste provider Biffa, to drastically reduce the amount sent to landfill and increase recycling.
Today, Recycle R8 has delivered concrete results with 80% waste diverted from landfill and recycling reaching 49%.
“Cemex UK is a ‘waste eater’, we now consume 80 times more waste than we send to landfill. For example, in cement and concrete we use by-products from other industries such as fly ash from the power industry and GGBS (ground granulated blast furnace slag) from the iron and steel producing industries.
“Through the partnership with Biffa and the strategy, Recycle R8 we are delighted to have achieved our bold targets. The strategy involved a challenging audit process and complete change of culture amongst our employees,” comments Andy Spencer, Director of Sustainability and Energy.
As a business, Cemex UK comprises of a wide diversity of operations including quarries, concrete plants, cement terminals and plants, factories, offices and asphalt plants over 300 sites with the type and amount of waste being different for each site. Once each site had been audited and the results analysed, the right bins and skips for the right waste to minimise landfill and maximise recycling were put in place.
With the right facilities on each site, a campaign highlighting environmental and financial benefits for better waste management was implemented to engage employees.
Spencer concludes “We have seen a real cultural shift amongst our employees. It is now everyday practice for them to recycle and divert waste from landfill. Before Recycle R8 we had 27% waste diverted away from landfill today it is 80%, with us moving towards our 100% target.”
