Working Together To Reduce Waste and Create A Better Place

Leading housebuilder Miller Homes brought together a number of its key suppliers recently for a workshop designed to identify ways to more effectively reduce waste.

Held at British Gypsum’s East Leake plant in Leicestershire, the event saw a number of key suppliers, including Vent Axia, Myson, Wavin, Baxi, Electrolux, Eaton Electric, Ibstock, Forticrete, Ideal Standard & Arnold Laver, come together to generate some collaborative ideas around the issue of waste.

Speakers included Garry McDonald, Procurement & Sustainability Director at Miller Homes and Gareth Brown, Programme Manager in the Built Environment team at waste organisation WRAP, and topics covered included Miller Homes’ sustainability strategy, A Better Place, the waste hierarchy and the circular economy.  

Commenting on the event, Garry McDonald said:  “When we launched our sustainability strategy ‘A Better Place’ at the end of last year, one of our key targets was to reduce our waste.  We realise that this is a challenge where we will achieve greater impact by working closely with our suppliers to reach our targets.

“The feedback we received from the workshop reinforced that message and provided us with a great platform for working more collaboratively to identify the key waste reduction issues and what action we can take to tackle them most effectively in the long term.”

Hosts British Gypsum also commented on their involvement, with Marketing Manager, Sarah White, saying: “Effective waste management is a priority for British Gypsum, from initial design and on-site testing, through to manufacturing and installation. Therefore, as a key supplier to Miller Homes, we were delighted to host, and be part of this industry-leading event; tackling key issues collaboratively with Miller Homes and its supply chain.”

Miller Homes outlined its ambitions for creating a more sustainable business with the launch of its new sustainability strategy, A Better Place, at the end of 2013. The strategy, which has been developed following in-depth research into the needs and concerns of a wide range of stakeholders, sets out in detail Miller Homes’ aims and objectives between now and 2020.

The 17 key sustainability issues identified focus on economic, social and environmental categories, ranging from customer satisfaction to community member, wellbeing to waste and economy, employment and education to ecology and biodiversity.