Lees Heginbotham is an Oldham-based family-run business selling and fitting flooring nationwide. Keen to boost their sustainability efforts, the team were already routinely taking waste from project sites back to their warehouse for Recofloor collection and recycling. This was working well for smaller quantities of waste. But when they were asked to take up and re-lay like-for-like Polyflor at Wythenshawe Hospital’s ward F4, they realised they would not have space at the warehouse to store the quantity of waste expected.

The initial plan therefore was to take the material to a waste contractor in multiple van loads. On talking to Recofloor, however, they discovered that Recofloor’s on-site collection service could be a much greener and easier option.

The flooring work was part of a refurbishment project led by main contractor ALM Construction. When Lees Heginbotham suggested using Recofloor to ALM, with Recofloor wheelie bins to be located on the ward itself, ALM was supportive.  ALM’s site agent then quickly gained approval from the hospital, which is committed to working with suppliers to embed circular economy principles.

Project challenges

The project presented three key logistical challenges. First, the ward is located within a maze of corridors and wards, with no direct external access. Second, the surrounding areas of the hospital were still in use, making cleanliness and tidiness a priority. And third, the project time frame was extremely tight.

Recofloor solutions

Two 1000 ml capacity Recofloor wheelie bins were deployed on the ward. The team filled these directly with the uplifted smooth vinyl. Two further bins were then used for offcuts, with installers using smaller Recofloor clear sacks to collect the waste from the various rooms. When each stage of the work was complete, the bins were simply rolled along the corridors to external doors and out to the agreed collection point.

The on-site bins immediately proved invaluable. With no need to take waste material up and down hospital corridors, the team were able to complete the job faster and didn’t have to worry about spreading dirt and dust. On the ward itself, the bins ensured the space stayed clean and tidy, ready for the hospital’s regular inspection visits. And on top of this, the fitters were extremely pleased to get rid of the waste easily on site, rather than having to fill up vans and transport it.  

In total, the team collected almost 3 tonnes of material for recycling – 3 tonnes that would otherwise have gone to landfill or incineration. There were no issues with other trades trying to use the bins, because they were kept within Lees Heginbotham’s designated storage area on the ward.

As a final bonus, the Recofloor bins worked out cheaper than other waste disposal methods – which enabled Lees Heginbotham to reduce their price to the main contractor.

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