Waste Management Plan Checklist

Why a waste management plan matters

A waste management plan sets out how a construction project will deal with the waste it creates, and the checklist that supports it covers planning and preparation, allocation of responsibilities, identifying your waste, managing your waste, waste disposal, organising materials and waste, communication and training, and measuring and monitoring your waste. Preparing and following a plan repays the effort in several practical ways: - It gives you a structure for **reducing** waste before it is produced, by thinking about construction methods and materials, packaging, and the quantities you order. - It protects your **duty of care**, through waste transfer or consignment notes for all waste movements from site, checks on the persons removing waste, and confirmation that waste carriers are registered with your environmental regulator. - It controls **costs**, both by avoiding over-ordering and disposal charges and by reusing or recycling waste that has a commercial value. - It keeps the site **organised**, with separate, clearly labelled containers, protected storage areas, and covered bulk materials. - It leaves a **record** you can draw on for your final report, for future projects and when competing for future contracts.

What a good waste management plan covers

A sound plan is built on a handful of subjects, and the checklist is arranged around them. **Planning and preparation** Allow time to prepare the plan. Consider the construction methods and materials you can use to reduce the amount of waste the project produces, and consider ordering materials with less packaging, or with reusable or returnable packaging. Record all of your waste reduction decisions in the plan, and include a statement from the client and the main contractor. **Allocation of responsibilities** Assign a competent person overall responsibility for the plan. The people who handle waste need to understand it too, so the plan should reach everyone from the operatives who produce the waste to the contractors and subcontractors who work alongside you. **Identifying your waste** Assess the waste produced at each stage of the project: the types, the quantity and the timing, as well as the processes involved. Identify the workers who produce the waste, and set targets for the quantities of each type of waste to be reused, recycled and disposed of. **Managing your waste** Set aside an area of the site for the storage of new materials and waste, with separate containers for the different types of waste. Store new materials separately from waste and protect storage areas against vandalism. Label containers and skips clearly — colour coding can help — and keep storage areas secure and weatherproof against wind and rain. Cover bulk materials or fit netting so they do not spread and cause pollution. Put measures in place to manage hazardous waste, whether it is anticipated or not, and plan how you will dispose of liquid waste such as wash water and lubricants, obtaining the agreement of your water and sewerage undertaker for the discharge of trade effluent. **Waste disposal** Comply with your duty of care, in particular by using waste transfer or consignment notes for all waste movements from your site and by checking the details of the persons removing the waste. Task a responsible person with checking that waste loads leaving the site are accurately described and that the notes are completed correctly, confirm that all waste carriers you use are registered with your environmental regulator, and locate the nearest waste disposal sites. Consider reducing disposal costs by reusing or recycling waste that has a commercial value. **Organising materials and waste** Assess the quantities of materials you need to order in order to limit over-ordering and site waste. Consider whether you can return unused materials to the supplier, sell them or use them for another project, whether you can use recycled materials, and whether you can return unwanted packaging to the supplier for reuse or recycling. Plan to separate the different types of waste to make the best use of good waste management practice. **Communication and training** Make sure all the people who will handle waste are aware of the requirements of the plan. Plan induction sessions and site talks for all staff, and confirm that contractors and subcontractors are properly trained, aware of their responsibilities, and have understood and accepted the plan, with its requirements integrated into their contracts. **Measuring and monitoring your waste** Carry out spot checks and monitor your staff regularly to ensure procedures are being followed. Update the plan each time waste is removed from your site, review it regularly and check that the targets are being met, and check and monitor the agreed procedures regularly. Produce reports on waste quantities, treatment and disposal routes and their costs. **Reviewing success and learning lessons for the future** While construction is under way, give feedback on issues and record them for your next plan. Produce a final report on the use of recycled and secondary materials, waste reduction, separation, recovery and disposal, and identify the costs and savings. Explain the changes made to the plan, take observations and issues into account for action in future projects, and use the results to help you win future contracts. **Completion** Keep a copy of the waste management plan on the project site. You must keep it for two years on the project site or in the main contractor's offices.

How to use this checklist

The checklist is a working tool rather than a form to file away. Use it in two ways. 1. **Prepare the plan.** Work through the questions in the planning and preparation, responsibilities, identification, management, disposal and organisation sections while you are still assembling the plan, so that the waste reduction decisions, targets and storage arrangements are in place before work starts. 2. **Run the project against it.** Use the communication, monitoring and review questions throughout construction to check that procedures are being followed, to spot when the plan needs updating, and to capture issues while they can still be acted on. A few points of practice make the checklist easier to work with: - Record the date, who prepared the plan and the location at the outset, and complete the final section, including any comments or recommendations, when you close it out. - Update the plan each time waste leaves the site, so the record reflects what actually happened rather than what was intended. - Keep the completed plan on the project site for two years, on the project site or in the main contractor's offices. - Carry the findings forward — the final report and the issues you record during construction are what make the next plan better.

Frequently Asked Questions

A waste management plan is a project document that records how a construction project will avoid, reduce, reuse, recycle and dispose of the waste it produces. The checklist is built around the subjects a plan must address: planning and preparation, allocating responsibilities, identifying waste, managing waste, disposal, organising materials and waste, communication and training, and measuring and monitoring. It also prompts you to keep a copy on the project site, where it should be retained for two years on the project site or in the main contractor's offices.

Preparing the plan needs time allowed for it up front, and it should be prepared before and alongside the project rather than after waste has already been produced. You assess the waste likely to arise at each stage of the project — the types, the quantity, the timing and the processes involved — and record your waste reduction decisions in the plan. The plan itself is then kept on site and updated each time waste is removed, so it stays a working document rather than a one-off submission.

First, identify the waste: assess the waste produced at each stage of the project — its types, quantity, timing and the processes involved — and identify the workers who produce it. Then set targets for the quantities of each type of waste to be reused, recycled and disposed of. Management measures follow: an area set aside for storage with separate containers for different waste types, new materials stored separately from waste, protected storage areas, hazardous waste measures, and arrangements for liquid waste such as wash water and lubricants.

The plan uses yes/no answers with a 'not applicable' option. Spot checks and regular monitoring confirm that agreed procedures are actually being followed, and the plan is reviewed regularly against its targets. Updates happen each time waste is removed from site, and reports are produced regularly on waste quantities, treatment and disposal routes and their costs. The results feed back into correcting issues during construction, into the final report, and into future projects.

Secure, weatherproof storage areas are needed to protect materials from wind and rain. Containers and skips should be clearly labelled to avoid confusion, and colour coding them can help. Bulk materials should be covered or fitted with netting to stop them spreading and causing pollution.

The plan supports your duty of care by requiring waste transfer or consignment notes for all waste movements from site and by requiring you to check the details of the persons removing the waste. A responsible person checks that waste loads leaving site are accurately described and that the notes are completed correctly, and you verify that every waste carrier you use is registered with your environmental regulator. For liquid waste, you obtain the agreement of your water and sewerage undertaker for the discharge of trade effluent.

One section of the plan allocates a competent person overall responsibility for it. Responsibility also extends to the people handling waste: everyone who handles waste must be aware of the plan's requirements, contractors and subcontractors must be properly trained and aware of their responsibilities, and their acceptance of the plan should be reflected in their contracts. Induction sessions and site talks are planned for all staff.

Written by

Arne Reis

Founder

Process optimizer with 25 years of expertise, focused on operational excellence in quality, maintenance, EHS, and commissioning. Emphasizes innovative solutions and top-quality standards.

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