Apr 5 2006
Research commissioned by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) has identified two key issues which, if addressed, could help increase the use of recycled and secondary aggregates (RSA) amongst small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the construction sector.
The first issue is the widely held belief amongst SMEs that you cannot use RSA on work for public sector or other major clients such as city councils or utility companies. The second is the lack of confidence amongst SMEs in their ability to suggest the use of RSA to clients, or to persuade a client to overcome their reservations to RSA use.
The research also found that, while the majority of SMEs were using RSA and were aware of local suppliers, they were limiting their application to low grade fills and cost savings were their main reason for buying.
“There are a large number of SMEs operating in the construction sector which could play a major role in helping achieve greater materials resource efficiency, through the use of recycled and secondary aggregates instead of primary aggregates,” said John Barritt, Aggregates Technical Advisor for WRAP.
“It was important to commission this research to help us better understand the factors influencing SMEs’ decision making around the use of RSA. We now have clear evidence of the obstacles hindering greater RSA use and, more importantly, can now develop practical solutions to address the issues identified.
“Our next step will be to tackle these issues from both sides. We will look into methods of providing direct evidence from clients and main contractors that they have an active preference for using RSA on their projects and that it is possible to persuade them to accept RSA use where not originally specified. At the same time, we will also be investigating how we can provide additional tools to help SMEs gain greater confidence in sustainable aggregates and encourage their clients to use them.”
Conducted by Databuild, the research involved telephone screening interviews with over 400 potential RSA users, drawn from a database of small and medium size construction firms. The screening identified a representative sample of organisations which were both users and non-users of RSA. Focus groups and qualitative face-to-face and telephone interviews were then carried out with these organisations to determine their awareness and understanding of RSA and their opinions on the drivers and obstacles to use.
All companies selected had between 20 and 100 employees, a threshold set to ensure companies surveyed were large enough to have significant aggregates use, while not responding to environmental drivers in the same way as larger firms.