Materials and Waste Management

Around the world, resources are being consumed and waste is being generated at unsustainable rates, leading to increased emissions, land and water contamination, and unnecessary resource depletion.

GPT is continually working to minimise the waste we produce by maximising the lifecycle of materials and avoiding the overconsumption of raw materials and resources.

2022 Performance Highlights

• The GPT Office Portfolio delivered a 3.3 Star Average NABERS Waste rating (98 percent of applicable sites rated).
• Over 7,000 tonnes of material, including organics, paper & cardboard, and glass were recovered in line with circular economy, closed loop principles.

Find out more about GPT's performance in the 2022 Sustainability Report, with the 2022 Report due out soon.

The GPT Environment Dashboard (previously the Environment Data Pack) details the full performance of our portfolio, assets and wholesale funds since 2005, including building ratings and attributes. 

Policy and Approach

GPT's Materials and Waste Management Policy sets out our commitments and approach to managing materials, waste and resources, and applies to our asset operations, developments, and corporate activities.

Delivering meaningful materials recovery and waste management outcomes

GPt monitors our materials recovery and waste management performance through our ISO14001 certified Environmental Management System.

Monitoring performance using outcomes-based reporting

GPT recognises that not all recycling is the same and uses outcomes-based reporting to measure recycling quantity and quality at A-Grade (closed loop), B-Grade (downcycling) and C-Grade (diversion) levels. Introduced in 2015, this data collection and reporting approach has increased our understanding of materials recovery in practice and informs our continued collaboration with contractors and suppliers. Monitoring the outcomes of our materials recovery performance is essential to achieving our closed loop objectives. Waste sent to landfill is also the principal source of Scope 3 emissions from our building operations, so our approach to waste management also benefits our climate change commitments.

Taking the rubbish out of recycling data (2014) is a GPT discussion paper about about the foundations of our outcomes-based reporting approach to materials recovery and waste management.

Since then, we have shared our outcomes-based reporting insights across the property industry. Our work has informed the Better Buildings Partnership's Operational Waste Guidelines and Stripout Waste Guidelines, the NABERS Waste rating tool, and the GECA Waste Collection Services standard, which certifies waste contractors that provide ‘leading practice’ services with strong data integrity.

Addressing materials and waste impacts

GPT addresses our materials and waste impacts in two areas: 

• Operational waste generated by the occupants and users of our buildings that we manage and dispose of, and
• Development waste from the construction and demolition activity that we manage.

In both areas, we engage with contractors, suppliers and partners to ensure GPT’s closed loop approach is applied to the waste that leaves our buildings and development sites and to the materials selected for use.

For example:

• the development agreement for the 32 Smith Street office building in Parramatta required our builder partner to divert more than 90% of materials from landfill throughout the development;
• through our ISO14001 certified Environmental Management System we maintain comprehensive training programs both for GPT staff and for key contractors and partners at our assets and developments to improve materials recovery, waste minimisation and techniques such as source separation;
• we incentivise reuse and recovery of materials by encouraging our development contractors to find value avoiding landfill costs and through encouraging or directly partnering with programs like OzHarvest that support local families needing food relief, avoiding costs and passing on savings;
• we work with innovative programs like the PIF Furniture Fund that enable the exchange and reuse of existing products like tenancy furniture, saving cost for contractors and tenants and averting waste being disposed of in landfill;
• we maintain a rigorous site management system designed to avoid generating hazardous waste. Asbestos registers are maintained at each site with well-developed management protocols;
• site Fit Out Guides and House Rules control the use of materials at our assets by our tenants and contractors.

Find out more about GPT's performance in the 2022 Sustainability Report.