Reducing our waste

Most of BT's general waste doesn't go directly to landfill. It's sent to either materials recovery facility depots or waste transfer stations where off-site segregation is carried out.

In 2008 Openreach signed up to the Waste and Resources Action Programme(WRAP - http://wrap.org.uk/) which supports us in our aims to reduce waste sent to landfill and our CO2 emissions.

As a result of a new general waste contract in 2010, our performance in this has improved significantly and we have introduced more environmentally efficient disposal channels.

We've made significant headway in this area, and in 2010/11:

• 81% of BT Group's waste, which amounts to 50,000 tonnes and of which we generate a large portion, was recycled.
• we helped to reduce the BT Group's waste to landfill by 69% when compared with 2009/2010.
• our engineers put 67,000 poles into the network, and for the first time ever, the earth and rubble generated from the excavation works was re-used. Previously this went to landfill.
• almost 30% of our engineering centres now have wood and cable reel skips, which compares to none in 2008.

If you would like to know more about our sustainability work, please contact our sustainability team.