Building a legacy: Circularity and the future of construction

The UK construction industry faces a significant challenge: reducing its environmental impact.

While progress is being made in operational carbon, which refers to the carbon emissions produced during a building's use, embodied carbon remains a major concern. Embodied carbon encompasses the carbon footprint of materials throughout their entire life cycle, from extraction and manufacturing to transportation and ultimately, disposal.

Beyond operational carbon, the industry must address the issue of waste. Construction generates a staggering amount of waste, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reporting that the sector produces around 100 million tonnes of waste annually. This excessive waste not only harms the environment but also wastes valuable resources.

Polypipe Building Products recognises the urgency of this issue and is taking a proactive approach to minimizing our environmental impact. We have partnered with Wolseley to launch a new recycling initiative aimed at minimising plastic waste and promoting a circular economy within the construction sector.

This initiative focuses on several key areas:

1. Establishing a robust collection network

We have established a network of collection points at strategic locations, including:

• Wolseley facilities: Designated sites like Fusion Utilities in Stoke, Chesterfield, and Cambridge are focusing on gathering plastic cable drums.
• Plumb Centre branches: Providing convenient recycling collection points for heating engineers, plumbers, tradespeople, and employees.
• Construction sites: Implementing waste collection points at major developments, encouraging onsite teams to separate and recycle materials.

2. Collaborating with key industry players

We have partnered with leading housebuilders like Vistry Group and Tilia Homes to implement waste collection points at their developments. This collaborative approach has already yielded significant results, with almost 2.25 tonnes of plastic waste diverted from landfill.

3. Promoting closed-loop recycling

Collected waste is transported to our dedicated waste management facility in Edlington, Doncaster. Here, we prioritise reusing materials whenever possible and strive to recycle the waste back into the production of new building products, minimising landfill waste and maximising resource utilisation.

Chris Smith, Head of New Build at Polypipe Building Products shared,