Two site managers from the Solihull-based West Midlands region have played a major role in George Wimpey becoming the first listed volume housebuilder to be awarded full ISO 14001 certification for environmental management.
Mick Tully, from Hall Green, and Peter Biggs, from Coventry, were two of the six site managers nationally chosen at random by British Safety Institute auditors to confirm compliance with George Wimpey UK's overall systems and procedures. These seek to reduce the environmental impact in areas such as energy efficient design, reducing waste sent to landfill and remediation of brownfield sites.
BSI manager Andy West said: "This is a very thorough assessment process and it proves that George Wimpey's approach to environmental management is fundamental to the way they go about their business."
One example of the company's innovation is the use of building waste as a source material for blocks and board products - such as in its Pavilions development in Rugby.
Mr Biggs said: "Damaged bricks are collected separately and sent away to be crushed, coming back as clean hardcore that can be utilised again in various parts of the construction process.
"And all polythene wrapping is compacted before going to a depot and coming back as man-made road kerbs that we can use until the final concrete kerbs go in. This saves considerably on labour costs and keeps waste going off site to a minimum, plus the temporary kerbs are then recycled again.
"All our plasterboard is sent back to British Gypsum for recycling, too, while waste timber, scrap metal and cardboard are segregated as well."
Before construction starts, George Wimpey sites develop a site specific environmental action plan, which covers biod iversity, conservation, archaeological and other issues.
