As climate imperatives grow and circular-economy thinking takes a stronger hold, a connected, efficient reuse infrastructure needs to be established to enable circular solutions to scale. Reuse hubs are a key part of that infrastructure.
A reuse hub is a physical space that enables the reuse of materials. The materials can be anything from textiles to bricks, with items sold on or sometimes given away and the facility potentially being used for a variety of complementary community and/or commercial activities.
A construction materials reuse hub takes surplus and/or reclaimed materials, and either sells them straight on or, when capacity allows and/or is required, repairs or repurposes them before selling the items on. Stock can also sometimes be donated on to community projects. Complementary activities can vary from training (DIY to professional refurbishment skills), repair cafes, tool libraries and maker spaces to storage, venue space and commercial remanufacturing.
A construction materials reuse hub can be commercially focussed or community focussed, or even a hybrid of both. The following table gives a ‘broad-brush’ indication of the differences between the two:
| Community (generally not-for-profit) | Commercial (generally for profit) |
| Focus on surplus materials | Focus on reclaimed materials |
| Lower quantities of the same item | Larger quantities of the same item |
| Diverse/ broad range of stock | Varied or could specialise – eg flooring, ceiling systems, structural & cladding products, electrical systems |
| Element of processing/ repurposing, could do minor repairs to items | Have a reprocessing, repair and remanufacture team in house or partner with one |
| Sold as seen, with returns if not suitable, no warranty system | Some products may be sold as seen, many would require a (re)warranty for clients to purchase them |
| Waste exemption licences required for reprocessing – eg pallets into bird boxes | Waste exemption licences required for reprocessing and remanufacturing, and possibly waste carriers licence depending on wider activities |
| Potential to be part of a bigger circular ecosystem including repair cafes, library of things (tools), skills workshops and training, café, scrap store etc | Specialised Business to Business facility, standalone or alongside/part of e.g. ‘waste’ processing plant, logistics consolidation hub or builder’s merchant |
| Offering volunteer programmes, either to support people (back) into work and/or enable people to give back to their community
Provide apprentice and job opportunities |
Provide apprentice and job opportunities |
| Selling predominantly to households, community groups and small trades | Selling predominantly to commercial organisations |
Despite the industry’s efforts to reduce waste, there is still a significant volume of materials that has never been used that are skipped, and also good quality materials coming out of existing buildings that are far from the ‘end of life’ cycle for which they have been designed. Further incentivisation of reuse through raising awareness, knowledge sharing and policies is needed, but in parallel to that we also need to have established pathways for the reclaimed materials to make the ‘non-skip’ choices locally available and as simple as possible. These include manufacturer take back schemes, third party remanufacturing programmes, digital platforms, reused materials stockholders and salvage yards (see further information for definitions) as well as reuse hubs. Without an effective pathway back to reuse, reclaimed materials may still end up becoming waste.
Making reuse hubs a mainstream part of the construction ecosystem
Scaling up a network of reuse hubs across the UK faces significant challenges including some systems level obstacles/requirements:
- Logistics (cost) and storage (availability & cost)
- Quality assurance and recertification (legal and market expectations)
- Insurance (product liability expectations)
- Funding and business model viability (start-up funding vs longer term feasibility)
- Procurement and specification (construction project procurement systems are not set up to facilitate reuse which impacts on demand)
- Limited training and skills (from both an operational perspective and also in terms of facilitating the materials flow of the reclamation (materials into the hub) and reuse (materials out of the hub) of products)
- Policy and regulatory – lack of drivers and some barriers (VAT on reused products, waste regulations, business rates, planning, product regulations)
Yet the case for investment, at both a commercial and community level, is compelling:
Environmental Impact of Reuse Hubs
- The UK produces a vast amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste – reuse minimises waste and the associated negative impacts of disposal
- Reuse reduces embodied carbon and supports net-zero ambitions by extending the life-cycle of products and materials, and reducing the need to buy new
- Reuse maximises resources and therefore reduces extraction and its impact on biodiversity/ nature
Economic Impact of Reuse Hubs
- Stimulates ‘green’ jobs – directly at hubs (shop staff, workshop/skills trainers, triage, repair and repurposing work, community outreach, routes into jobs through volunteer programmes) and indirectly in deconstruction, logistics, materials processing and complementary digital platforms
- Rejuvenates communities and create resilience through providing facilities to repair, learn, share and grow
- Stewardship of resources – doing more with less; shorter, more local supply chains
- Resilience and supply chain efficiency – as materials costs fluctuate, reuse hubs can serve as buffer for supply chains, making the industry more resilient
- Digital and physical reuse platforms (marketplaces) help match supply and demand more effectively and can also provide/link to processing services, creating value
Social Impact of Reuse Hubs
- Enable skills development opportunities in construction and circular economy – repair, maintenance, repurposing, refurbishing, remanufacturing. Skills and volunteer programmes can be used to support people (back) in to work
- Provide access to low cost DIY materials to individuals, communities and SMEs – for example The Rebuild Site stock is on average 50% less than on the high street
- Community construction material reuse hubs can be part of a broader circular hub model which could include a repair café, a library of things, a community café, a zero waste store and more. There are many complementary and synergistic offers that can multiply the benefits of a reuse hub in a community and create a thriving centre, offering opportunities and creating/improving resilience. A reuse hub may start out being a shop for reused materials and end up becoming a place for community – from workshops and learning to public forums and game nights bringing inclusivity, a sense of community and even increased self-sufficiency and purpose.
Ultimately the more material reuse hubs there are, the more ‘business as usual’ it will become, with huge potential in creating a UK wide ‘hub and spoke’ ecosystem of connected, though independent, hubs and groups of hubs.
So what can be done to support the establishment of more hubs? To unlock the full potential of reuse hubs in the UK, coordinated action is needed across several fronts:
Behaviour Change – to create demand for reused products
- Our systems, our culture and our behaviours are unfortunately hard-wired to ‘new’ – we need to break from ‘business as usual’ and make it easier and more desirable to buy ‘pre-loved’. It is commonplace in the car industry, and Vinted has flipped the system with clothing, the construction industry needs to do the same.
- Bottom up – the front runners in circular economy and reuse are already doing it, we need to shout louder about the great case studies that demonstrate reclamation and reuse are possible and achievable
- Top down – as per the suggestions below there a several ways policy, public procurement and public funding can be used as a lever to integrate reuse into the mainstream
Policy support and regulation
- Strengthen circular economy strategy at national level
- Government policy to mandate circular principles & reuse targets into planning (creating more certainty around the long-term demand for reused materials, supporting justification to invest)
- Integrate reuse hubs into national frameworks and local planning and infrastructure strategy
- Offer planning and business incentives for reuse hubs (e.g., fast-tracked planning, reduced business rates, or regeneration grants).
Quality assurance frameworks
- Establishing standards for reused materials, which will also support insurance and warranty challenges; e.g. standardised grading/classification systems, testing protocols, safety standards, and materials passports to support traceability
- Introduce an industry wide reuse certification programme, so that eventually reuse hubs with certified processes can issue quality-assured materials (particularly for low to medium risk materials and products, with higher risk materials requiring specialist reprocessing).
- To note that, from an architectural salvage perspective, Salvo has a Truly ReclaimedTMstandard to authenticate genuine reclaimed products and materials to counter the emergence of “the reclaimed look” using new material, a design trend which drives faked alternatives. Also Recolight has their Used Luminaire Certificate for second life lighting products.
Procurement process changes
- Public sector clients (eg. local authorities, housing associations) can lead by example by having reuse targets in their procurement processes
- Encourage circular thinking and the use of materials passports and materials pathways audits (pre-redevelopment/ pre-demolition/ materials audits as relevant) in early design, so that reuse opportunities are embedded from the start.
- Create circular procurement guidelines to support inclusion of reused materials in specifications and bills of quantities
Training and capacity building
- Develop training programmes and apprenticeships for deconstruction, product processing and hub operations & logistics
- Create more case studies and link-in with learning networks where practitioners share best practices
Start-up funding and longer term support
- Supporting financial viability/sustainability in startup and growth phase through new funding mechanisms (mix of public, private, and industry-backed funding?)
- Public sector support: local authorities, combined authorities, and devolved governments can provide seed funding, land, or tax incentives to host reuse hubs.
- Public and/or private investment to demonstrate viability and return via pilot hubs
- Create a construction industry contribution scheme, perhaps where a levy from disposal is earmarked to support reuse infrastructure – making waste more expensive and diversion to reuse, repurposing and closed loop recycling a more attractive commercial option. Such a circular fund could underwrite reuse hubs
Commercial and community construction materials reuse hubs offer a powerful lever for transforming the UK building sector into a more circular, resilient, and sustainable industry. Tackling the practical barriers and aligning funding, policy, and industry incentives will support existing hubs to operate more effectively and enable the creation of new ones, to deliver significant economic value as well as environmental and societal benefits.
Further information/reading
Definitions
- Manufacturer take back schemes – where manufacturers offer to take their own and sometimes other manufacturers products to repair, refurbish, remanufacture or closed loop recycle the products
- Third party remanufacturing programmes – where third parties take prod
- ucts to repair, refurbish and remanufacture products for resale to the market
- Digital platforms – where third party organisations take surplus and reused materials, log them and upload the information on to a digital platform to sell to the market, some organisations create material passports for the items as part of this process. This can be a private platform only visible to a specific group or a public platform. Organisations may or may not have storage facilities.
- Reused materials stockholders – organisations that buy reused material, generally within a specific product range such as steel, to sell it onto the open market, they hold the stock in their own facilities
- Salvage yards – organisations that buy a wide variety of reused material, from bricks to quite unique architectural artifacts, for sale to trades and the general public
More reading
ASBP Resources
The ASBP Reuse Now web pages have various free to access resources including a list of reuse hubs and digital platforms: Digital platforms, physical hubs, and facilitators for reuse products – The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products
ACAN Reuse Infrastructure paper
A Reuse Infrastructure working group has been established as an initiative of the ACAN CE Task Group. The working group feedback on key progress areas and outputs were around knowledge sharing, pilot studies and logistics partnerships. The main challenges that came up were economic viability of reuse hubs, linked to the cost and availability of space and then certification, warranty and insurance. The group felt that areas to focus on moving forward are business models, materials selection, insurance and behaviour change. More information about discussions during the first round table can be found here https://architectscan.org/resource/circular-construction-storage-and-logistics-round-table/
Secondary Materials Markets: where are we now?
Article reflecting on the importance of secondary materials markets in achieving a circular economy. https://ukgbc.org/news/secondary-materials-markets-where-are-we-now/
The ReStage Script – national roadmap for circular stage and screen production in the UK & Ireland
Whilst this report is focused on stage & screen there are many similarities and overlaps with the construction industry. https://restage.org.uk/media/pages/research/the-new-script/5c3c8f8df7-1783364208/the_restage_script_july2026.pdf
Thank you to our campaign sponsors – Cleveland Steel & Tubes, Optima, the Concrete Centre, and Reusefully
