Plasterboard waste is costing the construction industry around £50m a year in raw material and disposal expenses alone.

One in eight sheets of plasterboard bought and delivered to site is classified as waste, which has led to an alarming 243,000 tonnes being sent to landfill and a sizable environmental footprint.

By adopting greener practices, construction companies in Scotland could potentially reduce site wastage by up to 8% and have a significant improvement on the industry’s environmental impact.

A new guide entitled ‘Preventing and Reducing Plasterboard Waste’ has just been launched by sustainability experts Envirowise. It is designed to help those in Scotland’s construction industry develop strategies to prevent and reduce plasterboard waste on site.


The information applies to all sizes and types of construction site and provides practical advice for a wide range of roles within the industry including main contractors, dry lining contractors, plasterboard manufacturers and merchants. Quantity surveyors, designers, planners and architects are also made aware of their role in the process and ways in which they can be more efficient.

The guide consists of a simple five step continual improvement programme, designed to be easily implemented and help companies get started: measure how much waste is being produced, benchmark in order to identify opportunities for change, communicate to everyone what needs to be done, monitor progress in reducing waste against an agreed target and improve further by doing things even better.

Robbie Weir, Envirowise Programme Manager for Scotland explains: "The construction industry is one of the largest sources of waste in Scotland, with more than 10.60m tonnes being generated annually. With the environment firmly on the agenda and industry legislation becoming more stringent, it is important for both green practice and profits that waste is considered a priority.

"The Envirowise guide offers a practical framework for getting started and simple advice for systematically managing plasterboard as a valuable resource. This guide marks the next in a series of important and insightful publications concerning construction waste."

(GK/NS)