Reuse is defined as the use of products or components more than once for the same, or other purposes, without reprocessing. (ISO 20887, 2020)

The waste hierarchy (below) is a framework which has been used in UK policy and legislation since the 1990s. The concept is simple, setting the order of preference for managing and disposing of waste. Reuse is seen as a waste prevention activity. 

Preparing for reuse is checking, cleaning or repairing products or components of products that have become waste to enable them to be reused without any other pre-processing.

Other terms that encompass reuse are remanufacture, refurbishment, repair, and reclamation/salvage. At a building level, the refurbishment of a building is reuse.  

Around 60 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste is created annually in the UK. Whilst much of this is recovered and recycled, only a small percentage is reused, even though this sits higher in the waste hierarchy. Material reuse can substantially reduce the need for new products, and their associated embodied carbon emissions. Estimates suggest that 22.3 MtCO2e of GHG emissions could be saved over 9 years by increasing our reuse of construction products.

The campaign builds upon the ASBP-led DISRUPT project, which is exploring the innovative reuse of structural steel in construction through the creation and adoption of new circular business models. Project partners and supporters include reuse stalwarts Cleveland Steel & Tubes, global construction specialist ISG, National Federation of Demolition Contractors, and Grosvenor, the world’s largest privately-owned international property business.

ASBP has been working on the topic of material reuse for nearly 10 years, with past activities including the Re-Fab House feasibility study, research with University of Cambridge identifying the barriers to structural steel reuse, and more recently, a sold-out Reuse Summit.

This previous experience is further enhanced with in-house expertise from Technical Director Dr. Katherine Adams, Circular Economy associate Debbie Ward, and Research Associate Dr. Asselya Katenbayeva, who bring 30+ years of academic and industry-focussed research and development on the topics of waste, reuse and circular economy.

To increase uptake of the reuse of construction products and materials through:

• Practical focus by exploring supply chain barriers and develop solutions
• Open dialogue and sharing of knowledge between reuse material donors/recipients and wider ecosystem to enable greater uptake
• Learn from what others have done to progress quickly (not everyone doing their own research)

Not duplicate with others – joining the dots – highly collaborative

ASBP to relaunch the campaign in September 2023 with the aim of becoming the ‘go-to’ place for practical guidance and information on the reuse of products in construction.