Solving construction’s landfill problem

Digital platforms are transforming the industry’s approach to surplus material. With the April landfill tax increase looming, now is the time to get smart about waste, writes Fraser Linaker of MukAway.

For decades, construction has moved surplus soil the same way: phone calls, favours, and fingers crossed that someone, somewhere, needs what you’ve got – and that’s if you are lucky and have a network.

These methods are inefficient, expensive, and environmentally indefensible. But more than that, material management is a problem that’s been hiding in plain sight while the industry is focused on flashier innovations.

The reality is stark. Construction generates millions of cubic metres of surplus material every year. Much of it goes to landfill because finding a local home for it is too difficult, too time-consuming, or simply not worth the hassle. Meanwhile, sites 10 and 20 miles away are importing aggregates to build up levels.

It’s wasteful. It’s costly. And with landfill tax set to increase by 113% in April (it will cost companies £8.65 per tonne to take to landfill, which is £173 per load before any haulage costs are taken into account), it’s about to become financially unsustainable.

This is where digital platforms like MukAway come in. We’ve built a system that does what the industry has needed for years: it matches sites with surplus material to those that need it, in real time, with full compliance and carbon tracking built in. No middlemen or intermediaries. No delays. No material going to landfill when it could be reused miles down the road.

The response MukAway has had from the market tells you everything you need to know about the appetite for change.

In the past six months, we’ve onboarded more than 50 companies and are currently working on six major group deals.. From major housebuilders such as Barratt Homes Manchester, David Wilson Homes North West, and Redrow Yorkshire; to smaller SMEs like Owl Homes and NL Properties – regardless of the company size we’ve provided them with a viable and long-term solution.

We’ve facilitated housebuilder-to-housebuilder deals, groundworker-to-developer movements, and we’ve done it without a single cubic metre hitting landfill unnecessarily.

But crucially, we’re also seeing significant interest from SMEs – the groundworkers, civil contractors, and regional developers who make up the backbone of the industry. We’re receiving nine enquiries a day, half of them haulage companies looking to capitalise on this new revenue stream and opportunity to constantly keep the wheels of their eight-wheel tippers turning.

It’s been a tough time for SMEs. They often get squeezed hardest when costs rise. They don’t have the scale to absorb landfill tax hikes or the resources to manage complex material logistics in-house. Digital platforms like ours level that playing field.

A small groundworks contractor can now access the same material movement network as a national housebuilder, move surplus soil sustainably, and reduce costs in the process.

ESG has moved from boardroom buzzword to commercial imperative. It’s no longer the afterthought. Clients, investors, and regulators expect developers to demonstrate genuine carbon reduction, not just aspirational targets.

MukAway’s automated CO₂e calculations using DEFRA standards give instant visibility into environmental impact for every material movement. That data becomes critical for ESG reporting and Biodiversity Net Gain credits. You’re not just moving material, you’re quantifying, tracking (and through the portal you can book a 3D drone survey to get the levels within a centimeters), and proving your sustainability credentials.

Our national rollout is less than two weeks away. We’ve proven the model works in the North West with 350+ registered sites and thousands of cubic metres being moved sustainably every week. Now we’re taking it nationwide because the construction industry is ready for this, the technology is ready, and the environmental and commercial imperative has never been clearer.

We are sick of reading that the construction is one of the UK’s largest contributors to carbon emissions and waste. But it’s also one of the most innovative when given the right tools.

Digital platforms aren’t just innovation anymore – they’re essential infrastructure for a sustainable, cost-effective construction sector.

Yes, sites need dumpers, Hitachi’s and JCBs – all the way down to the traditional spade. What we’re saying is that MukAway is as important as those tools, if not more important.

The material management problem isn’t unsolvable. It’s just been waiting for someone to solve it properly.

• Fraser Linaker is the chief executive of MukAway