Circular Economy

WHAT IS CIRCULAR ECONOMY?

It’s a new way to design, make and use things within planetary boundaries.

Shifting the system includes everyone and everything: businesses, governments, and individuals; our cities, our products, and our jobs. By designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and reengineering natural systems we can reinvent everything.
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The construction industry drives 6% of UK GDP while contributing 60% (140m tonnes) of all UK waste – this equates to £6BN lost value from a £100BN annual industry turnover. The sector needs to get much smarter about resource use. By encouraging the reuse of existing surplus materials Rebuild is doing our bit to reduce waste and lower the amount of carbon used in creating new materials.

We need a better balance, environmentally, socially, and economically. We are currently using x1.7 worth of earth’s resources which means we are not leaving enough for future generations to have access to the same resources that we do. It is not sustainable. Our impact on the planet is causing huge issues resulting in climate change and biodiversity loss at a scale not seen for hundreds of thousands of years. The Secretary General of United Nations has said the latest UN IPCC report on Climate Change is a Code Red for humanity. Some changes are already happening but to achieve the necessary impact they need to be done much more quickly and broadly than the current pace. It is still not too late to do something about it, we can all make changes and be part of the solution.

The Rebuild Site is part of that change.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY PRINCIPLES

We recognise that adopting and implementing Circular Economy (CE) principles and practices are a fundamental part of the solution to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Our current linear economy works on a “Take, Make, Use, Waste” system. This means things are thrown away after use, sometimes only a single use. A circular economy encompasses the whole life of things, including extending the ‘use’ phase for as long as possible. CE encourages things to be designed to be ‘Used for ages’, then pass to someone to be ‘Reused for a while longer’, then ‘Repaired and keep using’, followed by ‘Refurbished and keep using’, then modified and/or dismantled to be ‘Repurposed and keep using’, shredded and ‘Recycled to make other, different, products’ and then finally ‘incinerated for energy or composted to replenish’ depending on the materials. This looping keeps materials at their highest value possible for as long as possible – decreasing our consumption of resources, and crucially also reducing our carbon footprint.

A more formal way of saying this is that a circular economy designs out waste and pollution, aims to keep products, components, and materials looping at their highest utility and value at all times and is intentionally restorative and regenerative. By applying these principles, we are moving away from just doing ‘less bad’ and focussing on doing ‘more good’.

Moving to a circular economy requires ‘big picture’ thinking and systems level changes, as such the social as well as economic and environmental impact needs to be considered. The tighter the ‘looping’ and more locally sourced/used the product and materials are, the more beneficial it is economically, socially and environmentally. Enhanced, more sustainable facilities and environments promote better health and improve well-being. Buying, sharing, repairing and refurbishing locally creates more local jobs, generates more opportunities to upskill and retrain, and draws in more local investment. ‘Access over ownership’ and the sharing economy can provide new opportunities through access to new resources that previously may have been out of reach. A well reported ‘silver lining’ to the COVID pandemic is how much closer communities have become, re-establishing levels of connectivity and support. The adoption of Circular Economy practices can maintain this local, community ethos and support the aim to ‘leave no-one behind’ as we work towards a circular, sustainable, Net Zero Carbon world.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY RELATED PROGRAMMES, INITIATIVES, AND DOCUMENTS

ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION
For those that have never heard of CE before to those that have worked in the field for years, there is a huge amount of information about it on the EMF website: https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview
A ZERO AVOIDABLE WASTE (ZAW) ROUTEMAP
has been prepared by the Green Construction Board (GCB), in collaboration with Defra and BEIS. https://www.constructionleadershipcouncil.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ZAW-Interactive-Routemap-FINAL.pdf ZAW in construction means preventing waste being generated at every stage of a project’s lifecycle, from the manufacture of materials and products, the design, specification, procurement and assembly of buildings and infrastructure through to deconstruction. At the end of life, products, components and materials should be recovered at the highest possible level of the waste hierarchy, i.e. reused before being recycled, whilst ensuring minimal environmental impact.

UK GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL
UKGBC is working with its members and other stakeholders to develop practical guidance, raise awareness and influence policy to enable organisations working in the built environment to overcome the barriers to implementing circular economy principles. They have some great resources on their website: https://www.ukgbc.org/ukgbc-work/circular-economy/
ARCHITECTS CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK
Really interesting series of nine webinars framed by the RIBA Plan of Work, now available to watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQDz4ArBOUA