Why plastics in construction?
In recent years, awareness of the negative impacts of plastic waste and pollution on our environment has heightened. Popular television documentaries, such as the BBC’s Blue Planet II, and mainstream media campaigns have played a significant role in bringing these issues to the forefront of the public’s consciousness.
The focus of this has largely been on single-use plastics from consumer products and packaging. There has been relatively little attention on the use of plastics in construction, both from a short and long-life perspective.
The sector’s use of plastic continues to grow, but there is still much to learn about plastics in construction, such as the volumes and types of plastic used, their applications, lifespans, and how they are managed at end of life.
Resources
A toolkit to aid the construction industry in avoiding unnecessary packaging waste, exploring scalable solutions to help combat the prevalence of avoidable packaging plastic waste in construction.
The ASBP Interactive House is a clickable, interactive tool displays which ASBP members manufacture or distribute construction products for various applications, with plastic free or reduced plastic alternatives.
An introductory guidance document on the topic of plastics in construction. This interactive PDF guide has been developed by the ASBP and peer-reviewed by members of the ASBP Plastics in Construction Group.
Catch up with ASBP webinars on plastic reduction, with expert speakers, examples, and case studies from accross the supply chain.
Real world case studies that exemplify plastic reduction and prove that there are opportunites to reduce the prevelance of plastic in our buildings.
Latest news
The 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.
The focus of this has largely been on single-use plastics from consumer products and packaging. There has been relatively little attention on the use of plastics in construction, both from a short and long-life perspective.
The sector’s use of plastic continues to grow, but there is still much to learn about plastics in construction, such as the volumes and types of plastic used, their applications, lifespans, and how they are managed at end of life.
The ASBP’s 3rd annual Healthy Buildings Conference and Expo sought to explore the issues and impacts of plastic waste and pollution on our planet, and identify possible solutions and alternatives to help tackle the over-use of plastics within the construction industry.
The group does not seek to advocate a completely ‘plastic-free’ built environment. We recognise that plastics have useful applications within the construction industry but have become over-used. We support a reduction in the unnecessary use of plastics and encourage the development and adoption of suitable alternative materials.
The group is a collaborative learning network open to cross value chain organisations who are interested in the topic of plastics in construction. It meets online quarterly, if you are interested in attending please contact Larry Tate at larry@asbp.org.uk
Register for an upcoming event
ASBP hosts regular online events, including short introductory webinars, bespoke tutorials and in-depth masterclasses.