Industry Unveils Five New Action Plans For Construction Sector

20 October 2010

The construction industry will today unveil a series of five Action Plans aimed at helping to improve sustainability within the sector and reduce its waste arising; which currently contributes one third of the UK’s total annual waste arising.

Two of the new Action Plans, the Plasterboard Sustainability Action Plan and the Windows Sustainability Action Plan, have been developed from the Defra “roadmap” process, which began in 2007 when it launched 10 pilot product roadmaps as part of its Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Programme. They are the result of a Defra-funded collaboration with the construction industry to examine and document the sustainability impacts of these construction materials throughout their entire lifecycle.

The other three are part of the Strategy for Sustainable Construction. The Construction Products Association supported the preparation of them in conjunction with relevant trade associations and WRAP. Entitled Resource Efficiency Action Plans, these were funded by WRAP and BRE Trust. They include:
• The Joinery Resource Efficiency Action Plan, prepared by the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), the Construction Products Association and BRE in consultation with a stakeholder group drawn from across the entire wood sector
• The Flooring Resource Efficiency Action Plan, prepared by the Contract Flooring Association (CFA) with support from BRE
• The Construction Products Packaging Resource Efficiency Action Plan developed in association with members of the Packaging Stakeholder Group (PSG) and prepared by BRE.

Gemma Howard