Waste: A Game of Snakes and Ladders? : Construction - Case Study
Skip Over to the YAM
The skip yard skip is such a familiar object that few companies have questioned its place on the construction site. That is until Yeomans began examining the issue of rubbish removal. The result if the YAM waste removal system - simple, efficient and cost-effective - which is set to relegate the traditional skip to an industry design relic.
Yeomans began considering the problems associated with waste on the construction site. Accumulated rubbish on the workface creates a fire risk and hinders progress. The cost of removal is also significant: about £48 to take away the contents of one skip, and as the rubbish is not compacted, this is poor value. In addition, with skips located only on the ground floor, shifting spoil is labour intensive and therefore expensive.
Together with a skip manufacturing company, Yeomans developed the Yam system. Small wheeled bins were developed, four of which can be fitted into a 1500kg standard hoist on the construction site. These can then be strategically place on any floor. Contractors only need to handle the waste once and place it directly into the bins. When they are full, these are brought down to the ground floor and when there is a sufficient number, a front end loading dumpster vehicle is called in to remove the contents. Four bins are loaded into a slave container, the rubbish emptied and then compacted in the vehicle.
Waste compaction provides value for money. Depending on the waste material, the compaction ratio varies from 2:1 to 5:1. As a result, the vehicle can take away the equivalent of 20 six yard skips for around £280 which, if removed in the traditional fashion, would cost £900. This, in addition to manpower saving, enables a significant cost reduction, even after the initial investment in a slave container and a number of bins - in fact these have a long life and can be taken from job to job or resold.
Dave Dawe, senior operations manager at Yeomans, explains the benefits: 'The YAM system reduces cost substantially. It will potentially enable contractors to go in with a cheaper tender and, as it minimises fire risk by preventing the build-up of spoil, it can assist in reducing insurance premiums on construction projects. And in the long term, as the construction industry becomes increasingly aware of the need to recycle, it will facilitate the essential pre-sorting of materials on-site.'
