As part of Plastic Free July 2026, ASBP is hosting its fourth Reducing Plastics in Construction Summit.
Plastics pose serious risks to both human health and the environment. Their overuse and poor disposal pollute water, soil, and air, while microplastics have been detected in drinking water, seafood, and the air we breathe. Plastic waste also harms wildlife, damages ecosystems, and creates wider social and economic impacts. Addressing these issues will require reducing plastic use, improving waste management, and adopting more sustainable alternatives.
Concerns about the health effects of plastics in building materials and products are growing across industry, government, media, and academia. Although some research exists on both specific products and the broader health impacts of plastics, the evidence can be difficult to interpret and quantify. What is clear, however, is a broad consensus that the overuse of plastics may be contributing to negative health outcomes.
This summit brings together expert speakers from across the industry to examine the impacts of plastics on health and the environment, and to explore practical ways to reduce plastic use and adopt alternatives.
What you will learn
This summit will give participants a clearer understanding of how plastics are used across construction and the built environment, why they are attracting increasing concern, and what practical steps can be taken to reduce their impacts.
- Gain a clearer understanding of the health and environmental impacts associated with plastics used in building materials, products, and construction processes, including growing concerns around waste, pollution, and human exposure.
- Learn how plastics and microplastics can enter the built environment through product choices, packaging, site activities, and maintenance practices, and explore practical approaches to reducing these emissions.
- Explore examples of best practice from across the sector, including efforts to reduce unnecessary plastic use, specify lower-plastic alternatives, and improve decision-making around products and processes.
- Hear from practitioners, researchers, and industry representatives about current evidence, emerging priorities, and collaborative action being taken to address plastics in construction.
- Take part in a live discussion and Q&A to reflect on key challenges, questions, and opportunities for reducing plastics across the construction value chain.
Programme and speakers
- Welcome – Katherine Adams, Technical Director, ASBP
- Charlotte Stadler, Environmental Consultant & Plastic Footprint Network Secretariat co-lead, earth action
- Sian Sutherland, Co-Founder A Plastic Planet + PlasticFree + PlasticFree Babies
- Best practice on site to reduce microplastic emission – Joanne Kwan, Project Manager, CIRIA and Ben Stride, Ramboll (TBC)
- Plastics and paints – Michel Brouns, specialist in linseed paint and glazing, and CEO of Brouns & Co
- Plastics in our residential building products and materials: The Impacts on our health (paper launch) – Larry Tate, Projects and Communications Coordinator, ASBP
- Q&A panel
Ket details
- Date: Wednesday 15th July 2026
- Timings: 12:30-14:00
- Location: Online (Zoom)
- Costs: Free for ASBP members, £20+VAT for non-members
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This event is supported by ASBP’s Reducing Plastics in Construction Group
Launched in April 2019, the ASBP Reducing Plastics in Construction Group is a cross-sector membership group, bringing together stakeholders from across the construction value chain to learn collaboratively and address plastics in construction issues, both in products and packaging.