Maximising building waste recovery rates in a sustainable way at all Peab construction worksites in Sweden

Leading Swedish construction company Peab chose SUEZ to co-develop a new and more sustainable way of building through the systematic treatment, sorting and recovery of construction and demolition waste. SUEZ operates on all of Peab’s annual 2,000 - 3,000 construction sites and in all its offices and has helped to improve Peab’s waste recovery by almost 30% in ten years.
The mission

The Swedish construction company Peab wanted to improve waste recycling and reuse at all of its construction sites and offices in Sweden.

The objectives were to reach a minimum recovery rate of 80% (redite) and to send 8% or less waste to landfill.

These targets allow also Peab to comply with EU regulations, notably the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC.

A contract was signed with SUEZ in 2009 and renewed three times for a total of ten years.

70
%
the recovery rate of building and demolition waste set by the European Union for 2020.
80
%
Peab’s objective for the recycling/reuse of construction and deconstruction waste.
< 8
%
Peab’s objective in terms of the proportion of construction and deconstruction waste sent to landfill.
2,000-3,000
construction sites per year
Our solution
To help Peab reach these objectives, SUEZ provided its client with a global portfolio of solutions called The Environmental Circle®. This solution is a comprehensive approach from SUEZ consulting services to waste treatment, customized and co-constructed with each client to meet the client’s specific needs. This work process between SUEZ and its construction clients, in this case Peab, covers the entire waste management process. For Peab this includes:
  • Monthly internal statistics on a readily accessible, simple digital app available to Peab and SUEZ employees on the waste streams to be sorted (type, CO2 balance, quality, quantity etc.)
  • Supplying adequate equipment and deploying SUEZ teams to construction sites based on these statistics
  • Sorting at the source system at the work site
  • Educating, training and raising awareness among Peab employees with the help of sorting guides, guidelines, signage programs etc.
  • Hazardous waste treatment solutions  
  • Site remediation
  • High-pressure rinse and suction of waste and materials.

This solution was made available at all of Peab’s 3,000 deconstruction and construction worksites in Sweden and to all of its employees.

The results

The solutions allowed Peab to:

  • Improve the environmental performance of its construction sites and offices with, in particular a high degree of waste sorting
  • Reduce operating costs thanks to reduced waste related costs

Through the better planning of waste streams, SUEZ and Peab were able to optimize waste sorting, transportation and evacuation, reducing worksite interruptions and reducing costs. At some sites, a waste recovery rate of 100% was achieved.

SUEZ has outperformed the objectives set by the client and continues to look for ways to increase the amount of reused and recycled waste.

56,9
%
Recycling/reuse of waste on Peab’s construction worksites and in its offices in 2008.
88,9
%

Recycling/reuse of waste on Peab’s construction worksites and in its offices in 2018.

100
%
sorting grade achieved on some sorting sites in 2018.
+10,000
interventions by SUEZ per month on Peab's sites