During construction of our new wastewater treatment works at Peacehaven in Sussex, we reused 98 per cent of the waste produced to avoid the need to send it to landfill.

Working under the principle ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’, we utilised the excavated soil and chalk to landscape the site. Material from other sites in the Cleaner Seas for Sussex scheme was also reused in agriculture or to cap landfill sites.

We also continued with our Pathway to Zero Waste initiative to halve the amount of waste we send to landfill from construction, demolition and excavation by 2012.

During the year, our 18 sludge treatment centres continued to minimise the amount of waste sent to landfill. Sludge is the solid matter produced during the treatment of wastewater. It is ‘digested’ by bacteria in large tanks before being turned into fertiliser for use on farmland.

We also developed new facilities to remove grit and debris from our pumping stations. This significantly reduced the volume arriving at our wastewater works.