Waste management
Waste management
Wolseley recognises its responsibility to measure and minimise the waste generated by its business activities. Waste is divided into hazardous and non-hazardous, with hazardous waste containing properties which may render it harmful to human health or the environment and non-hazardous waste comprising general office waste such as paper, card, wood, plastics and metals. All of the Group’s businesses comply with their applicable waste management regulations.
Hazardous waste
| Definition | Data source and calculation methods | Absolute, tonnes FY 2007 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 3,926 | ||
| Landfill | Hazardous waste sent to landfill | Volume per annum converted to tonnes | 29 |
| Recycled | Hazardous waste recycled | Volume per annum converted to tonnes | 3,838 |
| Incinerated | Hazardous waste incinerated | Volume per annum converted to tonnes | 59 |
Non-hazardous waste
| Definition | Data source and calculation methods | Absolute, tonnes FY 2007 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 141,181 | ||
| Landfill | General office waste sent to landfill | Volume per annum converted to tonnes | 88,266 |
| Incinerated | General office waste incinerated | Volume per annum converted to tonnes | 5,240 |
| Recycled | General office waste recycled | Volume per annum converted to tonnes | 38,161 |
| Reused | General office waste reused | Volume per annum converted to tonnes | 9,514 |
The tables above comprise waste data captured from businesses representing 63.0 per cent of Group turnover for the year ended 31 July 2007.
Wolseley UK is continuing to implement initiatives to reduce, reuse and recycle its waste through waste segregation facilities such as skips, wheelie bins and rear-end loader bins. A project to recycle waste from branches back to the Regional Distribution Centres (‘RDCs’) began in February 2007 and the company has set a target of decreasing waste to landfill by 5 per cent and increasing recycling by 5 per cent across the RDC network year on year. All RDCs are now recycling cardboard and plastic and this is being monitored on a monthly basis. As part of the objectives for 2007/08, Wolseley UK is working with a number of its largest suppliers to reduce the quantity and improve the environmental quality of packaging used in its supply chain with the aim of minimising the environmental impact of waste for its business and customers.
As required by respective domestic legislation, Wolseley UK and Brossette both comply with the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (the WEEE Directive) regarding electrical material waste. Brossette has also installed containers at each of its branches for the collection of plastic, paper, wood and metal for recycling. ÖAG is a licensed member of the Abfallrecycling Austria AG (‘ARA’) and complies with all Austrian legislation with respect to waste collection and disposal and is subject to regular ARA audits.
In Ireland, Heatmerchants backhauls all of its waste paper, cardboard, wood pallets and plastic from its branches back to its distribution centre for recycling. During the year, over 2,800 tonnes of such material was recycled, resulting in cost savings of €500,000. Beijer in Sweden, a part of DT Group (‘DT’), has this year recycled 4,000 tonnes of waste, saving it from landfill, which resulted in cost savings of approximately £200,000.
Stock Building Supply (‘Stock’) employs a process at its operational locations to identify recycling opportunities and waste stream reduction, focused on removing solid wastes and recyclable material in amounts which maximise the tonnage per haul, thereby minimising environmental impact, expense and the number of hauls needed to service its operations.