During the construction of Terminal 5 we installed more than 5,000 km of communications cable. This was delivered to the site on large wooden drums which, on most construction projects, are sent to landfill once the cable has been unloaded. Cable drums are difficult to recycle due to their large size and mix of wood and metal.

At Terminal 5 we went beyond standard practice, setting tough sustainability targets for our suppliers. We stipulated in our contract with the cable supplier that all drums would be returned for reuse. The consolidation centre at Terminal 5 was designed with a large storage area where used materials and packaging like the cable drums could be stored safely, before being returned to the supplier. As well as being good for the environment, reusing the drums also saved the supplier, and BAA money.

By working in partnership with our suppliers in this way, we were able to reuse or recycle more than 97% of construction waste from the Terminal 5 site.