Circular economy progress in UK construction

A recent news article proudly announced that the use of recycled aggregates is at their highest levels to date. It’s an achievement for sure and something to be proud of, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

According to the report 73.5 million tonnes of recycled aggregates were used in 2022. These aggregates were recovered from construction waste and demolition, thus furthering the aims of a circular economy.

The problem is that while the tonnage is impressive, it only makes up 30% of total aggregates used in construction. The remaining 70% being used by construction is still being extracted from ever dwindling natural resources.

This is a concern not only because of scarcity and increasing costs, but also in terms of environmental costs. The areas of extraction are not being adequately rehabilitated. As a result, biodiversity loss is increasing and continuing to influence of climate change.

A matter of priorities

Construction’s history of producing some of the highest volumes of waste and CO2 emissions should be enough to initiate change. There’s a great deal of talk of targets and agreements on what needs to be done, but implementation is slow. Getting excited about 30% of recycled aggregates reflects part of the problem.

Construction professionals may believe that isn’t their concern as it’s outside of the industry and their area of expertise. What’s being missed is that environmental and circular economy efforts are not penalties, they’re opportunities.

The construction industry is battling with the impacts of inflation, low productivity and skills shortages. Being able to access more affordable materials that have the added bonus of reduced environmental impacts is opportunity indeed. Any area of business where there’s an opportunity to reduce costs and reduce volumes of waste should be embraced.

What will drive change?

The UK already has a framework for reducing carbon emissions and has also introduced a Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirement for construction. Targets have a role to play, but at this stage what’s really needed is to maximise the impact of environmental gains and the circular economy is a big part of this.

If the industry is to flip the statistics and achieve 70% recycled aggregates, for example, it will require greater collaboration between construction and resourcing sectors. Internally, prioritising recycled materials in purchasing policies can also drive change. As more companies that start to actively look for ways to reduce waste and reuse materials, the momentum may finally shift towards a circular economy.