Introduction to site waste management plans

Once a site waste management plan (SWMP) is implemented at your construction site, it is important you review it regularly to ensure it is being followed, it's still practical and appropriate, and is amended as necessary. For example, the SWMP could be included as an agenda item for weekly, fortnightly or monthly meetings.

You can also arrange for the SWMP to be audited by an appropriate person - for example, someone from the head office environmental team of the principal contractor - to ensure its effectiveness.

Apply lessons from a site waste management plan

It is important that recommendations and lessons learned from one SWMP can be applied to other sites and throughout the business. This can be achieved by:

• debriefing the client and project team on the SWMP's successes, targets, recommendations and good and bad practice
• including the SWMP as an agenda item for post-contract reviews
• establishing benchmarks and new targets based on SWMP experience
• holding educational or training workshops within the business
• asking the head office environmental team to audit and collate SWMP information from all sites and make business-wide recommendations
• updating policies and procedures - including environmental management systems
• incorporating the results in annual reports and business newsletters
• establishing an area for SWMPs on the business' intranet
• agreeing financial incentives for meeting or exceeding targets
• providing feedback to the procurement and design teams, sub-contractors, suppliers and waste management contractors
• using previous SWMP information and experiences for new tenders, pre-qualification exercises and pre-contract meetings