The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has today (18 June) opened a consultation asking for thoughts on the proposition to repeal the legal requirement for construction sites to have Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs).
Site Waste Management Plans are meant to encourage the ‘effective management of materials’ and are intended to ensure waste is considered at all stages of a construction project - from design through to completion. In 2004, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) introduced a voluntary code of practice for SWMPs, after finding that they ‘identify good and best practice opportunities to drive down waste and potentially reduce costs’. Formal regulations were then introduced in 2008 to help reduce the amount of waste by construction projects.
However, Defra said that following analysis and stakeholder meetings as part of the government's Red Tape Challenge (to remove unnecessary legislation to ‘free-up business’), the Site Waste Management Plans regulations were found to be ‘not fit for purpose’, and should on that basis be repealed, ‘subject to further consultation’.
Defra has now launched the ‘Consultation on Proposed repeal of construction Site Waste Management Plans Regulations (2008)’, to ‘understand all likely consequences of their repeal’.
Arguments for removing SWMP regulation
According to the consultation document, the removal of mandatory SWMPs could save businesses an estimated £20.3 million over five years, due to decreased administration and implementation costs.
The document goes on to say that government is now shifting focus to ‘reduce waste in the design process’ as ‘business has already made strides to manage waste effectively on site’, and as such, more work will be needed to reduce the amount of waste arising in the first instance.
Indeed, the document shows that SWMPs were first introduced to help deliver a drop in fly-tipping incidents and that since implementation, have helped see construction waste fly-tipping ‘stay at a fairly constant level. Further, SWMPs were also found to be accountable for a decrease in construction-waste related incidents. However, Defra says that ‘for the regulations to be deemed successful [it] would have expected an improvement above and beyond this’ and therefore does not expect the repeal to have any ‘adverse effect on fly-tipping’.
However, some members of the industry have voiced concern with the proposal, with CIWM Chief Executive Steve Lee, saying: “While many of the major construction companies and developers have embedded sustainable waste and resource management into their practices, CIWM believes that there is still a need to drive good practice throughout the sector.”
“In these tough economic times, the government should be encouraging business to realise the financial benefits of resource efficiency and waste prevention and the role of SWMPs in reducing the impact of flytipping on the public purse must also be considered.”
The move to repeal the legal requirement for construction sites to have site waste management plans comes in diametric opposition to Wales’ stance on the matter, as the Welsh Government’s Construction and Demolition sector plan, launched in November, suggested introducing mandatory SWMPs to help those involved in the industry – including builders, trades people and suppliers – to improve waste management practices and gain more environmentally friendly and affordable results.
The consultation is open until 16 July.
Read more about the Consultation on Proposed repeal of construction Site Waste Management Plans Regulations (2008).
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