Annual review Ashdown Agreement Annual report to 31 March 2008 Agreement annual report … · Ashdown Agreement Annual report to 31 March 2008 9 Evaluation of progress The progress

Annual review

Ashdown Agreement Annual report to 31 March 2008

The Ashdown Agreement on Plasterboard Recycling between the

GPDA (Gypsum Products Development Association) and WRAP (Waste

& Resources Action Programme) took effect from 1 April 2007. It sets

out shared objectives for the diversion of waste plasterboard from

landfill. This paper is a review by WRAP of the GPDA’s assessment of

the industry’s performance during the first 12 months from April 2007

until March 2008.

ISBN: 1-84405-400-4 Research date: April 2007 – March 2008 Date: September 2008

Ashdown Agreement Annual report to 31 March 2008 2

WRAP helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change.

Front cover photography: In-feed to waste plasterboard recycling facility (photo courtesy British Gypsum) WRAP and the GPDA believe the content of this report to be correct as at the date of writing. However, factors such as prices, levels of recycled content and regulatory requirements are subject to change and users of the report should check with their suppliers to confirm the current situation. In addition, care should be taken in using any of the cost information provided as it is based upon numerous project-specific assumptions (such as scale, location, tender context, etc.).The report does not claim to be exhaustive, nor does it claim to cover all relevant products and specifications available on the market. While steps have been taken to ensure accuracy, WRAP cannot accept responsibility or be held liable to any person for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. It is the responsibility of the potential user of a material or product to consult with the supplier or manufacturer and ascertain whether a particular product will satisfy their specific requirements. The listing or featuring of a particular product or company does not constitute an endorsement by WRAP and WRAP cannot guarantee the performance of individual products or materials. This material is copyrighted. It may be reproduced free of charge subject to the material being accurate and not used in a misleading context. The source of the material must be identified and the copyright status acknowledged. This material must not be used to endorse or used to suggest WRAP’s endorsement of a commercial product or service. For more detail, please refer to WRAP’s Terms & Conditions on its web site: www.wrap.org.uk


Contents

Contents ............................................................................ 3

Introduction ...................................................................... 4

Executive Summary........................................................... 6

Evaluation of progress....................................................... 9

Target 1 ..........................................................................9 Proposed actions ...............................................................9 Progress ......................................................................... 10

Target 2 ........................................................................ 12 Proposed actions ............................................................. 12 Progress ......................................................................... 12



Company activity ............................................................. 18

British Gypsum............................................................... 18

Knauf Drywall ................................................................ 19

Lafarge Plasterboard ...................................................... 20

Prospects for the year ending 31 March 2009................. 23

Contributing factors........................................................ 23 Performance of the Market............................................... 23 Offsite Construction/ Laminators....................................... 23 Non-Contributory Recycling .............................................. 24 WRAP LCA Study............................................................. 24 Wider Economic Situation................................................. 24

Review of the targets ...................................................... 26

Conclusions...................................................................... 27


Introduction

The Ashdown Agreement on plasterboard recycling between the GPDA (Gypsum Products Development Association) and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) took effect from 1 April 2007. It sets out shared objectives for the diversion of waste plasterboard from landfill. This paper reviews the GPDA’s assessment of the industry’s performance during the first 12 months from April 2007 until March 2008. Whilst the GPDA assessment has been reviewed by WRAP, this is not an independent verification of the data presented. The GPDA is the trade association representing manufacturers of gypsum products, whose members operate all the production sites in the UK. The primary function of the GPDA is to develop and encourage the understanding of gypsum-based building products and systems and to pioneer new applications for these products. It also has an ongoing commitment to advise on matters of environmental impact, energy conservation and health and safety, wherever gypsum based products are used. More information on the GPDA can be found at www.gpda.com. The Ashdown Agreement arose out of industry discussions regarding the recovery and recycling of plasterboard waste. From 2005 WRAP had been running a programme to address the issue of plasterboard waste, working closely with the related industry sectors to identify and develop solutions. One solution was to encourage the setting of targets to drive specific changes in working practices which would lead to increased diversion of plasterboard waste from landfill. In 2006 the GPDA proposed that their members enter into a binding voluntary agreement which would provide measurable contribution to this objective; this agreement was then developed in collaboration with WRAP and the Market Transformation Programme (MTP), and signed by the GPDA and WRAP in March 2007.

http://www.gpda.com/


The Agreement states the following agreed targets:

Target 1 To engage with all stakeholders to undertake activities which reduce the amount of new plasterboard waste to landfill and increase recovery of all plasterboard waste.

Target 2 To reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill, both monocell and co-disposal, from UK plasterboard manufacturing operations to 10,000 tonnes per year by 2010.

Target 3 To increase the take back and recycling of plasterboard waste, for use in plasterboard manufacture, to 50% of new construction waste arisings by 2010.

Target 4 To work with all parties in the supply chain towards achieving the ultimate objective of zero plasterboard waste to landfill. An important element of the Agreement is that it is reviewed on an annual basis to evaluate progress against the targets and that they remain realistic and achievable yet sufficiently ambitious. This is the purpose of this annual report document. The Government’s Waste Strategy for England 2007 cited the Ashdown Agreement as setting a positive precedent for the rest of the construction industry. Work has been underway to develop similar agreements for the other elements of the plasterboard sector supply chain and this has recently been adopted as a formal action of the Government’s Strategy for Sustainable Construction published in June 2008.


Executive Summary

For 12 months to 31 March 2008 (the 2007/08 period) Overall, excellent progress has been made towards achieving the 2010 objectives, with all four targets achieving some degree of success over the past twelve months. The year has seen substantial improvements associated with targets 2 and 3, relating directly to tonnages of production waste landfilled and post-consumer waste returned and recycled into new board. Target 2 To reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill, both monocell and co-disposal, from UK plasterboard manufacturing operations to 10,000 tonnes by 2010. Results for 2007/08 were 6,121 tonnes sent to landfill Target 3 To increase the take back and recycling of plasterboard waste, for use in plasterboard manufacture, to 50% of new construction waste arisings by 2010. Results for 2007/08 were 53,933 tonnes recycled for use in plasterboard manufacture. The Ashdown Agreement makes provision for targets being delivered according to the best environmental option, with review and revision annually between WRAP and the GPDA, to ensure that these targets remain fair but challenging. Targets 1 and 4 To engage with all stakeholders to undertake activities which reduce the amount of new plasterboard waste to landfill and increase recovery of all plasterboard waste, and to work with all parties in the supply chain towards achieving the ultimate objective of zero plasterboard waste to landfill.


These targets are not quantifiably measurable, but the manufacturers have participated in a range of initiatives within this reporting period, including those listed below, which provide evidence that they are engaging with stakeholders and the supply chain towards these goals.

WRAP Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Study of Plasterboard : published April 2008;

WRAP / BRE Study on Plasterboard in Demolition Waste (‘Scoping Study for the Evaluation of Plasterboard Waste arising from the Demolition Sector’);

WRAP / BRE Report: ‘Calculating & Declaring Recycled Content

in Construction Products: Rules of Thumb Guide’;

DEFRA Plasterboard ‘Roadmap’ to further improve the sustainability of plasterboard and reduce its lifecycle impacts;

Draft Eurogypsum Specification on recovered gypsum;

WRAP/ Environment Agency Quality Protocol TAG (Technical

Advisory Group) participation (see Target 3 proposed actions) which precedes the anticipated publication of a Quality Protocol for gypsum from waste plasterboard; and

WRAP/ BSI Steering Group participation on PAS109 towards a

Publicly Available Specification for recycled gypsum Many of the publications referred to above are available from www.wrap.org.uk .

http://www.wrap.org.uk/


Revision of targets As a result of the excellent progress that has already been made against Target 2, it has been agreed that the target shall be amended from 10,000 tonnes to 7,500 tonnes per annum by 2010. This ensures that the target remains challenging yet realistic. The other targets shall remain unchanged as although the manufacturers remain confident in achieving them they remain sufficiently challenging.


Evaluation of progress

The progress achieved between April 2007 and March 2008 in delivering towards the targets is discussed below. Also presented are the actions proposed in the Agreement document to facilitate delivery.

Target 1

To engage with all stakeholders to undertake activities which reduce the amount of new plasterboard waste to landfill and increase recovery of all plasterboard waste.

Proposed actions

The manufacturers will work with WRAP and CRWP (Construction Resources and Waste Platform) to identify and implement solutions.

The manufacturers will explore, with other stakeholders,

opportunities to reduce waste and identify solutions for future plasterboard waste recyclable/recoverable from new construction, demolition and refurbishment activities where it is technically and economically feasible to do so.

Alternative recovery routes to be developed for the demolition

waste stream.

While long-term the objective is to eliminate plasterboard waste from landfill, the process of transition will require sufficient landfill void to be available to accommodate the flows which will continue to exist in the short term as solutions become effective for progressively more difficult streams.


Progress

GPDA manufacturers have continued to support WRAP over the past 12 months through ongoing projects such as the annual WRAP forums, the latest being held in Birmingham on the 14 February 2008, the scoping study on plasterboard recovery from demolition waste, the Quality Protocol gypsum from waste plasterboard, Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 109, and the plasterboard Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Work on the Quality Protocol, PAS 109 and the LCA has involved close collaboration. The publication of the LCA in particular assists the industry to communicate the benefits which diversion from landfill can bring. Manufacturers’ technical advice services continue to provide customers with high quality advice on elimination of site waste by a rigorous process beginning at design and specification phase and continuing through to the installation phase. The original concept of the Ashdown Agreement was to simultaneously engage other parts of the plasterboard sector, in order that activity for collection and reuse becomes consistent and coordinated. It is therefore important that similar agreements with other stakeholders are actively pursued, since delays here will impede progress with target 1. The Contractors and Developers voluntary agreement (see box, below) is the first such supply chain agreement to be published following the Ashdown Agreement, and is welcomed in this regard. WRAP have recently completed a three year programme of work on plasterboard as a specific work stream. However, as a key material within the construction industry, work on plasterboard waste reduction, collection and diversion of waste plasterboard to other uses will be continued as part of the overall programme of work of the WRAP construction team. The GPDA will continue to work with WRAP and the rest of the construction industry on these activities.


Contractors and Developers agreement

Launched in July 2008, the primary targets of this agreement are: to reduce the amount of plasterboard waste generated from

new construction and refurbishment in both residential and commercial projects to 15% [of plasterboard purchased] by 2010; and

to encourage reuse, recycling and recovery of plasterboard waste at all sites, detailing plasterboard waste management in their site waste management plans (SWMPs).

This agreement is led by the FPDC (Federation of Plastering and Drywall Contractors), supported by the Construction Confederation. It was developed in collaboration with CRWP (the Construction Resources and Waste Platform), Defra, and supported by WRAP. Performance against the objectives and targets will be monitored by the FPDC, and will be subject to independent annual review.


Target 2

To reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill, both monocell and co-disposal, from UK plasterboard manufacturing operations to 10,000 tonnes by 2010.

Proposed actions

The manufacturers will continue efforts to reduce waste plasterboard arising from original manufacture.

Progress

Excellent progress has been made through manufacturing plant investment and improved practice. This has resulted in process waste to landfill currently running better than the target 10,000 tonnes per annum. Figure 1 shows the quantities of plasterboard waste disposed of to landfill by UK manufacturing operations from 2002 to 2007 (the latter being the year addressed by this annual report). This chart has been included to put the achievement within this final year into context. During 2007/08 occasional peaks of plasterboard waste occurred due mainly to the commissioning of new production facilities. This is not a common operation, and is one which is usually expected to cause quite significant quantities of waste. That the amount disposed of to landfill within this review period was still significantly reduced from previous years demonstrates a notable achievement by the plasterboard manufacturers.


The plasterboard manufacturers remain on track to achieving the 2010 target. Figure 1 Historical production waste to landfill

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

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It is anticipated that the next year will see an inevitable flattening of the trend line for progress in waste minimisation as the manufacturers tackle smaller waste streams and more difficult areas.


Target 3

To increase the take back and recycling of plasterboard waste, for use in plasterboard manufacture, to 50% of new construction waste arisings by 2010.

Proposed actions

The manufacturers will continue to develop and accelerate recycling into new board – e.g. extend to regional housebuilders, commercial contracts.

The manufacturers will continue to work with all stakeholders

to encourage the improved segregation of plasterboard waste on sites and the minimisation of volumes discarded.

Subject to meeting the prioritisation and selection

requirements from the joint WRAP/Environment Agency and industry project to develop Quality Protocols, a WRAP Quality Protocol will be developed for gypsum from waste plasterboard when it has been produced to a quality specification for the treatment of plasterboard waste, similar to the Quality Protocol for the production of aggregates from inert waste.

WRAP will support the development of alternative solutions for

small and medium sized organisations (SMEs) (e.g. localised waste collection and logistic solutions).


Progress

One difficulty in measuring progress against this target is quantifying the total amount of plasterboard waste arising from construction activities. Most estimates quote 300,000 tonnes annually, although it is commonly acknowledged that this is an estimate with a wide margin of error and that the assumptions used to derive it are somewhat historic. While the quantity of plasterboard used in this sector has increased, in common with all industries, the sector’s awareness of the need to reduce waste is much improved. The Contractors and Developers target to reduce plasterboard waste alongside the Ashdown Agreement is a case in point. WRAP has undertaken a number of studies over this last year from which site wastage rates for various construction materials have been obtained. Unfortunately, for plasterboard the range is exceptionally wide with little conclusion possible for a ‘typical’ wastage rate to inform an estimate of total arisings. A better indication will be produced over the coming year by CRWP, who are collecting further data on site waste arisings via use of BRE’s SMARTwaste measurement tool. This aspect will continue to be addressed over the next year, with the aim of identifying a suitable base estimate. Until that is available it is agreed that the manufacturers will work towards 50% based on the 300,000 tonnes original working estimate on which the Agreement target was originally developed. Figure 2 shows the amount of post-construction plasterboard waste recycled back into new plasterboard from 2002 to 2007 (the latter being the year addressed by this annual report). This chart has been included to put the achievement within this final year into context. Figure 2 indicates that there has been a significant increase in the amount of post-construction waste plasterboard recycled into new plasterboard since 2002. The overall trend for 2007/08 was just


under 20%. An increasing trend will need to be demonstrated for 2008/09 for the 2010 target to be achieved. Figure 2 Historical recycling of post-construction waste into

new plasterboard

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20,000

30,000

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

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It should be noted that waste plasterboard is also recovered through other specialist plasterboard recyclers who supply the gypsum into alternative (non-plasterboard manufacture) applications and markets. Their recycling is not captured in the data as the Ashdown Agreement relates specifically to the plasterboard manufacturers only. There are indications that the specialised recyclers have experienced an increase in demand and this shows the benefits of developing further agreements for the rest of the plasterboard supply chain; the measurement of individual elements in the supply chain can then provide an holistic picture for the combined sectors.


Target 4

To work with all parties in the supply chain towards achieving the ultimate objective of zero plasterboard waste to landfill.

Proposed actions

The manufacturers will liaise and work with other parts of the supply chain to identify opportunities to reduce waste and landfill disposal.

Progress

Target 4 expresses the commitment of the manufacturers towards the ultimate goal of zero waste to landfill. Therefore, all the activities mentioned under targets 1 to 3 inclusive are relevant to action towards that goal A major driver chosen by the Government to incentivise waste reduction is to increase Landfill Tax, currently £32 per year in 2008/09 increasing at a rate of £8 per tonne per year until 2010, for non-hazardous, non-inert waste. Plasterboard is classified as a non-hazardous non-inert high sulphate waste. When present in a mixed waste load such that the total sulphate content is above 10%, that mixed load has to be disposed of in separate landfill cells, which attracts a premium in landfill costs. Progress towards target 4 is a shared responsibility with other parts of the supply chain resulting in limited control over segregation and recycling by the manufacturers.


Company activity

For 12 months to 31 March 2008

British Gypsum

The British Gypsum Plasterboard Recycling Service (PRS), which recycles post consumer plasterboard in the UK started operation in 2001, and continues the drive towards reducing volumes of post consumer plasterboard sent to landfill. Retrieving and recycling in excess of 140,000 bags of plasterboard waste last year, it currently reprocesses between 75% and 80% of all plasterboard waste currently reprocessed into new plasterboard in the UK. Over the past year the amount of material taken back from new build construction sites has grown by almost 25%, with similar levels of growth projected for the next two years. During 2007 the PRS take-back team have been working to foster partnerships with smaller waste management companies in their supply chain, in order to offer plasterboard recycling solutions that are more customer focussed and provide greater flexibility at a local level. In addition to its two existing dedicated waste plasterboard reprocessing plants at Robertsbridge and East Leake, British Gypsum is currently investing in expanding recycling capacity at its plant at Sherburn, near Leeds. This facility has to date recycled all of the new plant’s production waste back into the manufacturing process, but is now being expanded to process and recycle customer waste as well, providing a broader and more efficient infrastructure for the company’s national recycling operations. Further work is underway with housebuilder customers to examine waste arisings from particular housing types. This will lead to an increase in the data which the PRS service is able to feed back to customers, helping them to not only identify and address high waste producing sites and processes, but to look at the most


sustainable housing designs and sizes in terms of sustainability and energy usage, as well as from a resource efficiency and wastage perspective. Continuing progress with the company’s UK-wide World Class Manufacturing programme during 2007 has continued to deliver improvements in plant efficiencies and waste reduction. Coupled with targeted waste reduction efficiencies, this has enabled the company to close its last remaining active landfill site at Kirkby Thore, in Cumbria. In continuous use until June 2007, this landfill site was previously used to accommodate predominantly production waste from the two plasterboard lines on the site, and its closure not only marks a major environmental milestone for British Gypsum but is a significant step in delivering progress towards the Ashdown Agreement targets.

Knauf Drywall

Knauf Drywall have made strong efforts in reducing the quantity of manufacturing waste being sent to landfill, and will continue to reduce this over the coming year. The use of a better materials collection system which is due to be implemented at one of their sites in 2008 should assist in the diversion from landfill of the small quantities of waste which are still currently disposed of. Knauf have, and continue to, increase their take-back and recycling of new construction plasterboard waste for use in plasterboard manufacture with a series of schemes including:

The operation of collection schemes whereby their trading customers utilise their delivery vehicles to collect bulk bags from site. These can then be stored at their premises for delivery vehicles to collect as new plasterboard and products are delivered. This scheme will be extended during 2008 and 2009.


They have created a new brand which is dedicated to recycling (Knauf Recycle) which has its own website www.knaufrecycle.co.uk . In 2007/08 Knauf won several awards for recycling. A case study is planned for later in 2008 through which the company hopes to further extend its knowledge of the issues associated with recycling from construction sites.

Knauf are aiming to extend recycling facilities to wider groups

through further agreements with their supply chain partners in the coming year, involving Knauf Recycle taking back their plasterboard waste.

They are also looking to open up the recycling scheme to new

market sectors through innovative schemes. An example of this is a pilot scheme due to start in the near future where one of their trading customers will be providing facilities on their premises for their customers to bring back plasterboard off-cuts and dispose of them in a dedicated receptacle provided by Knauf. The plasterboard can then be recycled, thereby avoiding landfill.

Finally, taking an holistic approach to recycling, Knauf have begun working with dairy farmers to supply recycled paper removed from plasterboard during recycling, as a substitute for straw as a bedding material.

Lafarge Plasterboard

Lafarge launched its Wasteline service in 2007 Quarter 2 (tagline: ‘Managing your plasterboard waste’). The Wasteline service has a dedicated email address and phone number and is made available to contractors via merchant and stockist

http://www.knaufrecycle.co.uk/


customers. Both skip and bag collection services are offered, so as to suit construction sites of various sizes. A ‘Waste Solution Selector’ calculator was devised and installed on the company website to assist contractors assess their waste recovery needs. This promotional activity resulted in a healthy increase in the volumes of waste plasterboard being returned to their Bristol site for recycling into new board. Lafarge Plasterboard co-operated with WRAP in two case studies during the reporting period so as to further promote plasterboard recycling.

The first was a collaboration with E J Berry, an independent merchant customer with branches throughout SW England & Wales. The objective of this study was to pilot a take-back scheme suitable for smaller sites with limited storage space using reverse haulage via merchants’ yards. The trial was deemed successful on account of the growing use of the scheme, and continues to operate.

In a second initiative, Lafarge Plasterboard worked in

collaboration with Lafarge Cement UK (Cauldon Works) to provide post consumer plasterboard waste for trials in cement manufacture.

During the review period Lafarge Plasterboard’s second plasterboard manufacturing plant was opened in Ferrybridge, Yorkshire in December 2007. This affected the company’s performance against the Ashdown recycling targets in a number of ways. In the period immediately prior to the Ferrybridge plant start-up, Lafarge Plasterboard was importing from continental Europe a quantity of plasterboard equivalent to the factory’s annual output. A logistic operation on this scale produces significant quantities of damaged product (amounting to several thousands of tonnes annually) which was recycled into new board. These volumes therefore occupied a significant proportion of the


available recycling capacity without contributing to the recycled quantity being reported under Target 3 of the Agreement. In line with expectation, the commissioning of the Ferrybridge plant in December 2007 and 2008 Quarter 1 led to significant arisings of process waste over and above the quantities foreseen for future steady-state operations. In order to manage this temporary situation, it was decided to locally landfill a quantity of plasterboard waste, the best available option in both economic and environmental terms. During 2008 Quarter 1, a plasterboard recycling plant was set up at the Ferrybridge Plant and is now in full operation. Since the birth of the company in 1987, Lafarge Plasterboard has used waste plasterboard cut into strips as a packaging material, ie as bearers for packs of board. In accordance with the company environment policy to minimise packaging, and in alignment with Ashdown Agreement aspirations for zero plasterboard waste to landfill, a decision has been taken to revise this practice in favour of an alternative material. It is estimated that the required recycling capacity will correspond to around 25% of their total recycling commitment under Ashdown Target 3, although it will not accrue any credit towards the achievement of that target.


Prospects for the year ending 31 March 2009

Contributing factors

These factors are as identified at the time of writing, August 2008.

Performance of the Market

It is anticipated that a number of factors in the regulatory environment will increase demand for plasterboard recycling services from construction clients:

Landfill tax: increased by £8 per tonne in April 2008 to £32 per tonne; and

Site Waste Management Plans (SWMP): became mandatory for construction projects of value >£300k from April 2008.

These two factors will encourage the construction sector to consider waste more closely, in particular reducing its generation and effectively recovering it for recycling. Plasterboard waste is known to be one of the largest arisings on construction sites after inert waste (concrete, blocks, bricks etc), and one for which relatively simple solutions can make significant impacts on waste arisings.

Offsite Construction/ Laminators

Offsite construction methods will continue to take an increasing proportion of the construction market. They have the potential to significantly reduce the quantity of plasterboard waste produced on a construction project and, being a factory based process, any waste that is produced is highly suitable for recycling. Such waste will therefore be accounted under Target 3. This sector has the


potential to make a major contribution to reducing the amount of plasterboard waste to landfill.

Non-Contributory Recycling

Post consumer waste is already recycled but does not currently feature within the results reported for Ashdown Target 3.

WRAP LCA Study

The Ashdown Agreement makes provision for targets being delivered according to the best environmental option, with possible review and revision as new evidence becomes available. The WRAP LCA study, published in April 2008, provides robust base data on the environmental impact of different options for dealing with plasterboard waste arisings under a variety of conditions. Manufacturers will therefore keep their approach to end of life options under constant review, using the LCA as an evidence base, and may elect to propose solutions other than recycling where there is a strong evidential case for lower environmental impact.

Wider Economic Situation

The credit crunch that started in the US is having an impact on the UK market, with mortgages becoming increasingly difficult to secure and house sales slowing down. The knock-on effect for the UK construction industry is starting to be experienced as a stabilising or even a fall in completions of new housing. Currently this sector is the source for much of the plasterboard recycled by the manufacturers.


There are wider implications in the situation than just the housing sector; repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) work and the commercial sector may also be impacted by weakening of the global economy. This will inevitably put the customers of the manufacturers under pressure to protect profits by reducing costs wherever possible. In the handling of waste their main priority will be eliminating it wherever possible, or reducing it at lowest cost, but where they have to dispose of waste to do so at the lowest cost. WRAP have strong evidence to demonstrate that good materials resource efficiency, including good practice waste management, can result in significantly lower costs to the construction client/contractor, and work is on-going to instil this message within that sector. The combined net effect of these factors against Ashdown targets is difficult to forecast and will need to be monitored over the next year.


Review of the targets

Following the evaluation of the progress achieved in 2007/08 against the targets, the current and planned activity of the plasterboard manufacturers, and the forecast prospects for 2008/09, the targets have been reviewed to ensure they remain challenging yet realistic. The following conclusions of the review have been agreed between the GPDA and WRAP:

Target 1 This continues to be relevant and shall remain unchanged.

Target 2 The target shall be made more stringent by reducing it from 10,000 tonnes to 7,500 tonnes per annum. This reflects the achievement of the manufacturers in 2007/08 in meeting the target ahead of 2010, but also recognises the challenge of the more difficult plasterboard waste streams.

Target 3 The manufacturers remain confident of achieving this target by 2010, although this will require an increase in the rate of recycling in 2008/09 which may prove challenging.

Target 4 This continues to be relevant and shall remain unchanged. The targets will be reviewed again as part of the second annual report due in 2009.


Conclusions

In this first year of the Ashdown Agreement, the manufacturers made significant progress towards achieving the targets. The target for reducing production plasterboard waste being disposed of to landfill was achieved early, and as a result it has been agreed for this target for 2010 to be revised to make it more stringent whilst remaining realistic. The manufacturers remain confident of delivering the quantitative targets for 2010 and industrial performance during 2008/09 will confirm the suitability of the existing arrangements or the possible need for any additional or alternative measures to secure success. Although customers are increasingly concerned about the sustainability issues surrounding the building industry, the economic slowdown that started in America is having an impact on the UK housing market and, as a result, a number of customers of the manufacturers. The GPDA anticipates that housing completions are likely to suffer the most due to this economic situation and in the medium term non-residential projects may also be affected. That being the case, in order to attain the 2010 Ashdown Agreement further innovative ways will be required to offer the best and most comprehensive services to the customers.

www.wrap.org.uk/plasterboard

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Annual review Ashdown Agreement Annual report to 31 March 2008 Agreement annual report … · Ashdown Agreement Annual report to 31 March 2008 9 Evaluation of progress The progress