The Agency board were told at a meeting in Manchester yesterday that by keeping an eye on where waste could be reduced and materials re-used, Agency flood defence projects had avoided the need for over 560,000 cubic metres of virgin aggregates in that period.
By implementing Environmental Impact Assessments, the Agency reduced waste going to landfill by an average of 40%.
Commenting on the figures, Agency chairman Barbara Young said: “With investment in flood defence capital works likely to increase to some 180 million by 2005-06, we have a central role in both encouraging and implementing sustainable development practices within the construction sector. The Environment Agency has shown industry that if it can do, they can too.”
The construction industry is one of the UK's largest producers of waste, producing around 80 million tonnes of waste according to Institution of Civil Engineers figures – around three times more than the nation's households.
Research commissioned by the Environment Agency for NetRegs, the website designed to help small businesses understand the rules that affect their business, revealed that only 13% of SMEs have implemented any measures aimed at reducing harm to the environment.
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