RJS Waste Management Supports Sustainable Groundworks Shift.
With our company’s focus on sustainable groundworks, we’re pleased to see a new partnership between the construction industry and a green charity.
Morgan Sindall Construction is working with Groundwork to support biodiversity and benefit areas throughout the UK. Local communities already reaping the environmental rewards include Hampshire and Oxfordshire, close to RJS Waste Management’s offices.
Groundwork meets construction
Research shows a 19% drop in UK wildlife abundance since the 1970s. But, while most important habitats are in poor condition, restoration projects benefit nature and people (State of Nature, The Wildlife Trusts).
Although the South of England has been hit hard, the South Downs National Park has had a positive impact. Their #ReNature campaign has enhanced 4,312 hectares of habitat — an area larger than Portsmouth!
Construction can be noisy, damaging to nature and produce excess waste. That’s why favour has turned towards green construction and sustainable waste management. To redress the balance, both industriesshould support restoration efforts.
Morgan Sindall Construction is set to work with Groundwork on 14 projects, each with a £10,000 grant. The charity, “takes practical action to create a fair and green future in which people, places, and nature thrive.” They’ll work with the construction company to seek sites, from estuary habitats to more urban areas, where investment will improve biodiversity.
Director of Social Value & Sustainability at Morgan Sindall Construction, Tim Clement, said:
“We recognise that as one of the leaders in the UK construction industry, we have a key role to play in understanding and promoting biodiversity. We’re taking proactive measures to meet biodiversity net gain targets and invest in natural capital.
“Groundwork has an impressive and long track record of making a positive difference, supporting over 7,000 community organisations around the country each year, and we’re delighted to be partnering with them as a route to meeting our objectives.”
And Graham Duxbury, Groundwork’s UK Chief Executive, adds:
“We know from our long history of supporting communities to improve the environment that there’s a huge appetite among people of all backgrounds and all walks of life to get involved in protecting and developing local green spaces…
“Practical action to protect and improve biodiversity isn’t just good for the environment but can also help people improve their physical and mental health and ensure local areas are better prepared for the likely impacts of climate change. Even small changes can make a huge difference — bringing nature back to urban areas and giving people the confidence and encouragement to tackle bigger issues in their local community.”
UK biodiversity and sustainability in action
Biodiversity projects are already taking place close to RJS Waste Management’s Chichester and Oxford offices.
The demolition and rebuild of Bishop’s Waltham Fire Station in Hampshire benefited from Morgan Sindall Construction’s £10,000 Project Carbon award, with the installation of:
- Bat cavity wall boxes
- A green roof to provide foraging grounds for bats
- Sensitive lighting for bat commuting routes
Our clients at Blenheim Estate also received help from Morgan Sindall Group to establish nine new woodlands and a Forest School. They planted 250,000 trees with Grown in Britain to improve the area’s soil, air and water quality.
The Groundwork and Morgan Sindall partnership has come alongside relevant new legislation. The UK government wants land developers to deliver at least 10% increase in Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). This means habitats for wildlife must be left in a better state than before development.
Around 14 Local Authorities are targeting a 20% increase. We hope to support this effort with our safe bat guano removal services as well as sustainable groundworks and excavation services available in West Sussex, Oxfordshire, the Midlands and London.
Sustainable groundworks and excavation
Last year, we visited a West Sussex housing estate with a wildlife sanctuary to test potentially hazardous waste dumped in a waterway. We were asked to remove and dispose of the harmful waste while restoring the land and wildlife habitat.
Not only did we work around nesting birds but we used eco-friendly machinery to complete the job.
We liaised with an ecologist who surveyed the site weekly. He told us when the reed warblers fledged, and groundworks could start.
For the full site clearing and excavation, a five-tonne excavator and three-tonne dumper run on biodegradable oil were used for environmental safety.
Our continued commitment to improving environmental performance supports what Jonathan Gotham (Operations Director) said when we achieved ISO 14001 in 2022:
“This shows our clients we take our business’s impact on the environment very seriously. It proves we’ll always strive to lessen our impact on the environment and dispose of any hazardous waste in a compliant manner and source disposal routes that will offer the best options for recycling or re-use.”
Would you like a quote for your sustainable groundworks project? Perhaps you’re interested in other sustainable waste management services to help you meet your BNG targets. Get in touch online or call your local office for a free, no-obligation quote.
