Architects and designers are undermining sustainability initiatives by using non-recyclable materials more and more often, the president of the Institute of Demolition Engineers has claimed.

Terry Quarmby said, in a podcast for Demolition News, that the demolition industry is leading the way in recycling and re-using materials, while the construction sector has its waste return figures combined with demolition to boost its statistics.

He also claims that the construction industry is unlikely to achieve Government targets to reduce waste to landfill, and that sustainability is being sought at the cost of health and safety.

Reader Oliver James commented: “Finally, someone has had the balls to question the ‘sustainability at any cost’ rhetoric of the Government. As a demolition professional, my livelihood depends upon my ability to reclaim, reuse and resell supposedly waste materials. However, I am unwilling to do this if it is to the detriment of the health and safety of my workforce.”

The Waste and Resources Action Programme encourages construction companies to sign up to its agreement to halve waste to landfill to 2012. The Scottish Government, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Business, Innovation & Skills department and numerous construction companies have signed up to this target.

http://www.demolitionnews.com/2009/08/08/what-price-sustainability/
http://www.wrap.org.uk/construction/halving_waste_to_landfill/index.html