The Supply Chain Sustainability School developed the map
with several main contractors including BAM, Canary Wharf Contractors, Kier, John
Sisk & Co and Skanska.
The MEP mapping tool gives access to a network of Materials
Exchange Platforms nationally, allowing the user to compare those in their
local or regional areas.
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The School said the map could help save disposal costs, and
potentially generating income, while giving local businesses and smaller
contractors, access to quality materials at a lower cost, or even free.
Matt Nichols, of Reconomy, and chair of the
School’s Waste and Resource Efficiency group said: “Awareness of the
importance of a circular economy – based on the principles of designing out
waste and ensuring that we efficiently use all the products and materials that
we buy – is definitely gathering pace.
“The MEP map performs the crucial task of connecting those
with excess materials and products to those who can make good use of them,
therefore reducing the volume of waste we send to landfill.”
The MEP mapping tool filters based on location, MEP type and
material information, and shows local platforms within 30km of a specified
county.
Mark Turner, of the Supply Chain Sustainability School added:
“While Materials Exchange Platforms are not new, they are sadly very much
underused. We hope that by providing this interactive map to our 37,000 online
members, and indeed the whole industry, we can more easily access the platforms
that exist across the UK, to ensure less unused or over-ordered materials end
up in landfill.”
In its latest published statistics on waste, DEFRA reported
that the UK generated 66.2 million tonnes of non-hazardous construction and
demolition waste. It is also estimated by Zero Waste Scotland that
13% of raw materials are discarded unused.
Most waste is produced onsite throug; over-ordering,
ordering the wrong thing, mishandling materials, offcuts, and unnecessary
packaging of materials.
Access to the MEP Map is free, through a free membership of
the Supply Chain Sustainability School, which anyone can join: https://learn.supplychainschool.co.uk/local/tlactionplans/resource_intro.php?id=4291&modtype=url
