Ravenhead Household Waste Recycling Centre Whole Team Award Sustainability Performance Assessment

80.6%

Project Team
Client: Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority
Designers: Cheetham Hill Construction
Constructor: Cheetham Hill Construction

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Whole Team Approach This was the first Whole Team CEEQUAL Award that CHC have been involved with, however having undertaken previous work for MRWDA it was clear that sustainability is very high up on their agenda. Meetings were held early on in the process to ensure that the sustainability requirements identified as part of the tender process were addressed. The utilisation of CEEQUAL ensured that the project worked as a team to deliver a high quality and sustainable Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Site drainage

As part of the redevelopment of the site, existing drainage was used wherever possible to reduce the amount of materials and energy required to remove and replace these structures. As part of the planning process concern had been raised about surface water runoff reaching the road. This was addressed through the inclusion of an additional drains and the use of envirokerbs as part of a redesigned drainage scheme.

As a requirement of the operational Environmental Permit for the site, all of the drainage within the "dirty" area of the site drains to the foul sewer.

A rainwater harvesting tank linked to the canopy of the site was installed to capture rainwater. This will save potable water used to wash down the site.

Material waste & waste reduction

Site won materials, in the form of topsoil and subsoil that had been used in the construction of the previous site were excavated through the construction process, and wherever possible stored and kept for use in the development. This in turn kept the number of wagons required to take materials away and deliver new materials to a minimum.

• 100% of the topsoil won on site was stored and reused.
• Over 90% of the materials used on the project can be recycled or reused once this project reaches the end of its life.
• 68% by volume of bulk fill material was either site won or from a recycled source.
• 67% by volume of material from deconstruction of the original site has been incorporated into the project.
• 71% by volume of excavated material has been beneficially reused on site.
• 97% of waste consigned from the site has been diverted from landfill.
• Over 90% of unused materials have been returned to the yard and stored for future used

Community relations

Initial work with the community was undertaken by MRWDA in the form of community consultation, letters and other methods to ensure that existing users of the site were aware of the alternatives available to them while the existing site was closed.

Community involvement has played a large part in the construction of this project, to ensure it is a facility that will benefit the local community and future generations. Staff from Cheetham Hill Construction Ltd and Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority took part in a ‘Breakout Day’ at the Hope Academy in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside to promote wellbeing amongst pupils.

The activity day was undertaken by a group of pupils from years 7-10 and gave them an insight the whole redevelopment of the Burtonhead Road HWRC, including sustainable construction at the site and the implementation of a range of eco measures aimed at making the new centre greener for residents to use.

In the afternoon pupils took part in activity sessions that allowed them to get hands on and produce items from sustainable materials that will be incorporated into the Burtonhead Road site, such as bird boxes and a colourful mosaic art installation.

CHC also welcomed a visit to the site from a local community group identified by MRWDA. The University of the Third Age Interesting Buildings Group visited the site to learn about the construction of the new Burtonhead Road HWRC. They were given an insight into the history of the site, the local area and the construction processes involved.

Terry Ingham, St Helens U3A Venues Secretary, said “This goes to show that our Interesting Buildings Group don’t just go to see old or listed buildings. Some of our group had never been on a building site before and so the tour was very informative.”

Leaving legacy

As well as the new development making the recycling process easier for local residents, careful consideration of the landscaping management of the site was also made. Consultation was undertaken as part of the CIRIA BIG scheme, this has led to changes in the original landscaping maintenance plan, in terms of changing the timing of hedge cutting to avoid the nesting season. The scheme now also includes including 650m2 of wildflower planting, instead of grass seed.

There has been a 60% increase in areas of high ecological value. The new trees, which have been selected for local provenance and following the completion of the works, the new area of trees will be 1532m2, this compares to the previous area of 1196m2. In addition to the trees there will also be a new area of wildlife meadow being planted of 465m2

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Bird boxes were constructed for the site by pupils at the Hope Academy as part of their creative ‘Breakout Day’. The bird boxes were made from sustainable materials and have been attached to various trees on the site to encourage bird nesting. The boxes were installed on site during National Nest Box Week, which ran from 14th – 21st February.

An art installation has been commissioned by the MRWA and designed by local artist Bernadette Hughes from the Rainford Design Studio specifically for the new HWRC site. The art installation is in the form of a colourful mosaic panel and is now a permanent feature on the site. The theme of the piece is based on ‘Re-use, Reduce, Recycle’ and all materials being incorporated into the piece have been recycled.

Pupils from the Hope Academy and the University of the Third Age have all contributed to the piece together with staff from CHC and MRWA.

To what extent did the use of CEEQUAL influence your project?

The use of CEEQUAL provides a structure to follow and a toolkit to use to ensure that Sustainable Development is integrated as much as possible into the project. The structure provides an opportunity to engage the team and think outside the box.

For this project, and the previous HWRC's redeveloped by MRWDA Sustainability has been a key driver in the inception and development of the projects, making life easier for residents to recycle their waste.