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UK Construction Benchmarks 2026
What does a decade of waste, energy and water performance data reveal?
A decade of construction performance, benchmarked
Ten years of project data from the SmartWaste platform, drawn together into a single set of benchmarks for waste, energy and water performance across UK construction.
4,791
PROJECTS
£34bn
COMBINED VALUE
2016–25
TEN YEARS
41
BENCHMARKS
28%
Construction waste per £100,000 of project value fell 28% over the decade.
+10%
Waste per 100m² of floor area rose by more than 10% over the same period.
36%
New build generated 36% more waste per 100m² than the average across all project types.
99.5%
Landfill diversion reached 99.5% in 2025, close to its practical ceiling.
Authored by the SmartWaste and BRE data teams: Maggie Blackwell, Stuart Blofeld, Olumide Popoola and Atanas Savov.
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