How many Circular Building Component Reuse Actors does it take to change a lightbulb?

I recently read a useful paper titled Six Business Model Types for Circular Building Component Reuse Actors - using Bailey Bestul 's framework, I have summarised my takeaways from last week's Accelerating Circular Construction roundtable event hosted by Jenny Ford and Materials in Mind .

Deconstruction companies - specialising in the careful dismantling of buildings to harvest components

John F Hunt Group , with Tom Seath and Daniel Sweeney in the sustainability department, are driving the transition of the UK demolition sector towards deconstruction for reuse. This is no mean feat. While established steel reclamation yards might offer above-scrap rates for the careful dismantling of structural elements for direct reuse, it's unclear whether these increased rates sufficiently compensate for the manpower and programme alterations needed for dismantling. Other materials are even less straightforward... I heard an amusing anecdote about bags of recovered glass cullet destined for a manufacturer take-back scheme being contaminated with cigarette butts. The biggest challenge facing the deconstruction sector seems to be the lack of dedicated infrastructure for storage and logistical management of materials for their onward journey.

Reuse consulting offices - sharing knowledge on circular practices to aid specific building projects in implementing reuse

Gilli Hobbs from Reusefully Ltd described major developers producing their own circular economy requirements, which might mandate the production of a materials passport for existing assets, or pre-redevelopment or pre-deconstruction audits for planning applications. These are being further driven in London by GLA planning requirements, it seems Bristol would welcome similar legislation. Gilli also highlighted the need for tracking and clearly defined implementation plans to ensure reuse opportunities identified at planning can be realised once work begins on site.

Tim den Dekker , architect at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios) , outlined the Circular Economy Outcome metric, developed by LETI in an attempt to unify targets for circularity in construction. The metric operates similarly to whole life carbon measures, in that it applies a 'circularity factor' to the mass of each building material and divides the total by floor area. The circularity factor has in this case been defined as the cost in ￡ of mitigating the environmental impacts of a product as gathered from its Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). I'd like to know more about how the cost conversion factors for different environmental impacts are derived (and whether the most 'expensive' ones are the most harmful to the environment), and I'd question whether a metric reliant on EPD data is appropriate for circularity since reclaimed materials are less likely to have such data available.

At Useful Simple Trust we are working to drive the reuse of construction materials with expertise across structural engineering, sustainability consultancy, materials science, masterplanning and architectural design. The Useful Simple Trust 2023 Impact Report showcases our progress so far.

Material resellers - brokering and processing salvaged elements

I had an interesting conversation with Charles Gerike-Roberts about the development of new materials from biochar (pyrolised biomass), which supposedly sequesters enough carbon during pyrolysis to offset its embodied emissions. In theory, this is an avenue towards carbon negative building materials, but there is still some uncertainty across industry around how carbon sequestration should be measured, tracked and reported.?For most biogenic materials, the carbon sequestered during growth is re-emitted at end-of-life (landfill/composting/incineration), and therefore might not be as low-carbon as product marketing might suggest. It appears, however, that the pyrolysis of biomass might produce a material that is inert to decomposition, thereby locking the carbon in permanently. If the biomass used to produce the char is sourced from local waste streams, this could be a promising example of a circular, bio-based, carbon-storing material.

While not represented at the event (as far as I know), Material Index are driving the use of advanced technology to improve pre-demolition audits and set up brokerage opportunities for undervalued materials.

Reuse platforms - connecting industry actors to make the search for reused products easier

Excess Materials Exchange is enjoying a flurry of activity on their materials reuse platform - Nitesh Magdani flashed up a shiny list of partners gathered since their UK launch earlier this summer. Digital infrastructure is obviously a crucial piece of this puzzle - the use of 3D scans for pre-demolition audits enables quick dimensioning and listing of components online as they become available, allowing bids and auctions. RFID and QR tagging of valuable components is a good step towards streamlining this type of marketplace service. The big challenge for reuse platforms is of quality assurance... it's difficult to specify second hand materials on a commercial project without technical documentation / testing / warranty / insurance. There seems to be a need for closer collaboration between reuse platform providers, supported by materials passport providers like Madaster UK to improve traceability of reused materials, and in-situ materials testing services to de-risk the purchase and specification of products from these platforms.

Component-specific suppliers - specialising in the sale of reused elements of a specific product line

The BRISTOL WOOD RECYCLING PROJECT does what it says on the tin. It's fantastic to see a community-led social enterprise thriving after 20+ years, supported by a small army of volunteers. The project collects almost any type of waste wood - the good bits get resold directly to the community at affordable prices, offcuts go to the workshop for upcycling into new products, and any residual waste goes back into the wood recycling stream. BWRP are managing an impressive 36% reuse rate, which should only increase as their experience grows further. I am reminded of Xan Browne 's recently published thesis on upcycling reclaimed wood into structural elements - perhaps an avenue for BWRP to explore to supply the construction sector. It was a pleasure to meet Nichola McAvoy and discuss the value of Social Enterprise UK in driving purpose-driven work in the circular economy.

Upcyclers - turning waste into new, higher-value products

Jenny Ford presented the vision for 'Factory X', a circular economy hub seeking to unite the above business models to supply reused building products in Bristol.

The hub would include materials processing and exchange facilities, a training centre, and a show-village for low-carbon construction. The name is inspired by 'factor X', a metric for the reduction in consumption needed for developed countries to return to a safe operating limit within planetary boundaries.??The proposal is beginning to take shape, and is seeking funding for pilot activities. Hubs of this sort have been tested in mainland Europe, and seem to be a promising option for accelerating reuse of materials... the question is who would fund such a hub, and can reclaimed materials compete with just-in-time specification of new products?

At Useful Projects , we support the development of emerging reuse hubs across the UK in a strategic and technical advisory role, gathering evidence and supporting funding bids. Our work for the West Midlands Combined Authority has driven the development of a reuse hub selling excess construction materials to the local community (read more: West Midlands Circular Economy Routemap - Useful Projects). Congratulations to Debbie Ward on the recent launch of The Rebuild Site in Wolverhampton!

The above business models can only thrive where there is market need and an appetite to specify reclaimed materials. Design teams are beginning to understand the shift towards 'inventory limited design', or as Lendager puts it, 'Form Follows Availability'. Our architects and engineers at Useful Studio - Architecture and Expedition Engineering Ltd seek to maximise the reclamation of useful materials from deconstruction sites, and to specify reused products on new projects. We are on the lookout for enthusiastic collaborators in the Circular Economy - email me on [email protected].

Thanks to Jenny Ford for an exciting event - seeing all 6 CE business typologies represented in one room has cemented (hempcreted?) my belief that the time is right for action in this space. Thank you to all the attendees for their insights - I look forward to collaborating further.