In a post earlier in the year, Construction, demolition & excavation waste – largest waste stream in UK economy, we pointed to figures from the Minerals Products Association – the trade body representing Aggregate Industries and others, who claims "the need for resources and waste materials to be used more efficiently and effectively has never been so strong" – telling us that 120 million tonnes of construction, demolition and excavation waste is created each year – the largest waste stream in the UK economy – of which 26 million tonnes continues to be dumped in landfills.
The UK Green Building Council says "construction is still getting the circular economy wrong":
In the UK, construction, demolition and excavation account for 60% of both material use and waste generation. Humanity is on course to triple material extraction in the next 30 years and triple waste production by 2100.
Clearly the construction industry can't keep on like this. Fortunately there are signs – in these three recent stories – that some things are slowly moving in the right direction:
CDE recycling is set to receive a boost in the South West. A new £4m recycling plant has been set up on the outskirts of Bristol in response to demand. The materials recovery facility is set to be the most efficient and effective plant in the South West, processing construction and commercial waste, producing 'zero waste to landfill'.
The contractors that choose us are the ones that have environmental management systems at the forefront of their procurement so their sites have to be as close to ‘zero waste to landfill’ as possible. This new plant is the only one in the south-west that can process construction and demolition waste to that degree.
#MRF configuration boosts #recycling in the south-west | Features | Materials Recycling World https://t.co/XbjdxnH1Xy@ETM_recycling— The Waste Badger (@WasteBadger) April 1, 2019
Meanwhile, Tarmac has become the first company in the UK to develop a new rubberised asphalt using recycled waste tyres. Some 40 million waste tyres are produced every year in the UK. The new material has been trialled in Coventry. Coventry City Council's senior highways engineer said:
We are delighted with the rubberised asphalt trial; we hope we can use more of the product across the city in the future to help divert waste tyres from landfill and incineration to reduce the carbon footprint for road construction projects in Coventry.
The Tyre Recovery Association, added:
While there has been significant progress in reusing and recycling waste tyres in the UK, there is still an over-reliance on the export of used tyres to countries such as China, India and Pakistan, who are importing fewer tyres as they become self-sufficient.
The UK needs a second disposal route for used tyres. Tarmac’s commitment to developing rubberised asphalt provides an excellent opportunity to achieve this and deliver environmental savings for this under-used waste stream.
We're excited to have launched a new rubberised #asphalt which uses #recycled waste tyres and have developed technology capable of recycling end-of-life tyres into roads. https://t.co/ATBGFlbfoQ #rubberinroads #rubberinasphalt pic.twitter.com/zZNhCujwkJ— Tarmac (@TarmacLtd) June 6, 2019
Finally, in an indication of the recycling rates in construction waste that can be achieved – Station demolition achieves 95% recycling rate:
100% of the brick, timber and concrete removed from the site during the demolition work has been recycled for reuse elsewhere in the construction industry.
95% of Queen Street Station demolition materials recycled https://t.co/nLaDGu3oem— StewartStevensonMSP (@zsstevens) June 6, 2019
