Premier Planning

01 April, 2008

With site waste management plans (SWMPs) now in force and a 50% reduction in C&D waste targeted by 2012, WRAP is to focus the attention of its next capital grant competition on skip waste firms. One company that could benefit is Birmingham-based Premier Waste. MQR caught up with director Wayne Clarke at the firm’s C&D waste recycling plant in Perry Barr to find out more about how it is making SWMPs and the growth in waste reduction work for it, and how nearby David Coleman’s urban quarry is also reaping the benefits... for now.

The introduction of SWMPs raises interesting questions concerning recycled aggregate supply and demand. Better segregation on site could produce more material to recycle but lean purchasing designed in at project conception could help to cut back on both material supply – through lower waste arisings – and demand.

It is too early for any answers but with the latest WRAP aggregates levy-funded capital grant competition (see news) targeting skip waste firms investing in materials recycling facilities (MRFs) over other potential aggregates-related recipients because of the implementation of SWMPs, their impact on the aggregates market is already making a mark.

And the SWMP impact hasn’t gone unnoticed at operations such as Premier Waste in Birmingham. Four years ago it invested in a MRF. Around 18months ago it won a WRAP capital grant to the tune of £300,000 to expand the Redox plant to allow it to process aggregates, a decision that helped both the firm and its neighbours.

Premier Waste Management director Wayne Clark explains: “Our end products are heavy brick, soils, stones, plastics, hard board, soft wrap, grade A and grade B timber. We get a return on the scrap but the hardcore and aggregates get taken away.

“The 200+ goes to KSD, but the processed aggregates go to David Coleman’s Shady Lane washing plant, which is near here. He gets it for free. He picks up the aggregate, processes it and sells it and we save landfill costs for the client,” he told MQR.

Premier’s Perry Barr operation is thwarted by position. Its 6acre site backs on to a church and residential developments. With the plant housing taking up two acres it doesn’t have space for a washing plant, says Clark, and its location makes a crusher licence a distant dream.

And as a waste firm, the main focus has always been on cost reduction for clients. Each year Premier needs to raise its prices as landfill costs rise. It was getting to the point where it was losing clients, says Clarke. “They thought we were benefiting from the hikes but it was just a matter of keeping up with cost increases,” he says.

Now with 88% of material diverted from landfill it is getting easier. And it has a further 2acres of its site earmarked for the construction of a second processing shed to produce refuse derived fuel, among other things, from the remaining 12%.

Clarke: “We want to divert as much waste as possible from landfill. The only way to do this is to invest in technology that helps you achieve it. We have a footprint for the building but nothing plant wise set in stone yet.

“We are waiting for planning permission and we expect a decision in about a month or so. Hopefully it will tie in with the order of the machines. With a 2-3month lead time, hopefully we will be up and running within six months,” he told MQR.

This will allow Premier to get the benefit from the materials it is already producing. For example, the grade A timber will not need to go elsewhere for processing. It can be shredded on site and sold straight to a secondary market.

With this initiative the company has started the shift from the mindset of simple waste reduction to that of materials producer. A process happening to many waste firms across the UK.

“There is the demand for recycled aggregates around Birmingham from both construction and utilities to allow both ourselves and Coleman not to step on each other’s toes,” he says. “But it is far too early to be talking about it yet. We have to get the other plant operating first,” he says.

Premier knows it is do or die out. Clarke: “Those who like us are investing are surviving. Already there are many that have decided around here in the run up to the first of April when the landfill tax jumped just to call it a day.

“It’s sad really. We have had a few firms approach us and ask if we would like to buy the vehicles and skips. Many of these are family businesses. It’s a crunch time for waste. We’re having to adapt really quickly or fall away,” he says.

And adapt it is. With the launch of SWMPs came the Premier total waste management solution for construction clients, where the company offers the reviewing and monitoring of clients’ waste reduction key and environmental performance indicators (KPIs and EPIs) as set out in SWMPs. It already has contracts with the likes of Kier and Laing O’ Rourke.

Premier employs site waste labourers and a waste champion who manages the site. It orders waste containers, deals with admin duties, waste logistics, waste identification and the cost of clearing and tidying a site ready for client/director visits. It is all based on a site level agreement (SLA).

A bespoke IT system records quantities of waste removed from site per load, per day, per week, per month and over the entire duration of the project, while a good relationship with Birmingham University offers access to academic laboratories for testing waste.

And it is not just large construction clients Premier Waste is targeting. Its mantra is to educate all size of builder about the need to recycle, reduce waste and focus on sustainability.

Clarke: “The one-man band is also under pressure to change. The industry is looking to rid itself of the cowboy attitude so they will have to comply. And people generally are becoming more aware of the issues.

“We are offering the small builders – under even SME level – in a 15mile radius of here, the same access to duty of care enjoyed by the large players by using our skip service. They can offer customers a reassurance that their waste will be 100% diverted from landfill.”

And with a Government target of zero C&D waste going to landfill by 2020 – 50% by 2012 – it is a business plan that can only expand, like Premier’s operation itself, and others who decide to invest in waste processing equipment.

And with WRAP’s focus over the next three years for captial grants being on skip hire firms we can expect them to be thinking about more than just waste reduction.

Wayne: 0121 366 4900