Reconomy, the UK-based circular economy specialist, has launched a new framework aimed at supporting the new government in restructuring waste management in the construction industry.
The new framework aims to unlock economic growth and tackle climate change.
Further, the framework targets the construction sector as one of seven resource streams.
The project was completed with Sancroft, the UK-based sustainability consultancy, which has used its extensive knowledge of the UK’s waste and resource management industries in the new framework.
Reconomy has announced a new framework aimed at supporting the new government to restructure waste management in the construction industry
The framework was published following the General Election with Steve Reed, Labour’s new Secretary of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), already laying out his ambition to “create a roadmap to move Britain to a zero waste economy” as one of his five key priorities.
Non-hazardous construction and demolition (C&D) waste is a vast and difficult-to-manage resource stream that covers a huge range of materials such as concrete, bricks, wood, glass, metals, and plastic.
It includes all waste produced by the construction and demolition of buildings and infrastructure, as well as road planning and maintenance and waste from improvement, repair or alteration.
As part of its consultation process for the report, Reconomy engaged waste experts as well as public and private sector organisations.
The aim of the new framework is to unlock economic growth and tackle climate change
The resulting framework creates a consistent regulatory market within which the construction sector can operate and mitigate the negative environmental impacts of waste.
It consists of business-friendly principles to simplify the waste system and recommends:
- Creating national minimum standards to hold all waste providers to a new, higher sustainability standard
- Developing nationally consistent and separate waste collection across the country
- Establishing a baseline data of waste figures to enable continuous monitoring
- Implementing Extended Producer Responsibility schemes to shift the burden of waste management onto producers
- Introducing eco-design standards including mandatory returnable packaging
- Ringfencing EPR funding to provide investment and subsidies to stimulate demand
- Digitising information to track resources digitally in real-time
- Creating an independent governing body to enact change
Adopting this framework will not only have a material impact on emissions reduction and align with national efforts to keep global warming temperatures below 2°C but will also unlock significant economic benefits.
It is estimated that the full benefits of a circular economy could increase the value of the UK economy by £82bn (GVA) and create up to 284,000 jobs in London alone by 2030.
Defra reported 59.1m tonnes of non-hazardous C&D waste was produced in the UK, of which 92.6% was recovered.
While this is a positive statistic, most materials are recycled into aggregate as there are limited opportunities to reuse materials. However, some value could be retained through recovery.
management of C&D materials should focus on integrating circular principles to move C&D materials up the waste hierarchy and retain their value
In addition, the figures exclude excavation waste, which is a major component of C&D waste and is predominantly sent to landfill. Therefore, management of C&D materials should focus on integrating circular principles to move C&D materials up the waste hierarchy and retain their value.
The new government has the opportunity to put renewed impetus into achieving a more circular economy and the benefits this brings modern societies.
Reconomy has invested significantly in the sector and its new proposed regulatory framework addresses the urgent need for new initiatives to drive waste separation, end landfill, and incineration as easy disposal methods, incentivise responsible waste management, and keep resources in circulation.
It lays out a path to enable greater investment in the future and place businesses at the heart of the transition to a circular economy by ensuring reforms are aligned with sustainable growth strategies and work across different sectors.
The resulting framework creates a consistent regulatory market within which the construction sector can operate and mitigate the negative environmental impacts of waste
Reconomy Divisional Director for Construction, Housebuilding & Infrastructure, Jamie Roberts, said: "We are delighted to launch this framework to promote the circular economy and build a more sustainable future. To meet our climate objectives, protect finite resources, and grow the economy, it is crucial this new government takes steps to help businesses and communities improve resource management.
"The joint Reconomy and Sancroft project team has produced an actionable strategy of structured and consistent reforms for the construction sector. By following this we can simplify the waste system and generate much-needed investment in the system to move resources up the waste hierarchy.
"We are increasingly seeing innovative models allow construction companies to overcome traditional issues within the sector, such as fragmented ownership of construction projects and long lifespan of infrastructure. Following our guiding principles, could create further opportunities to retain the value of resources given the vast quantity of C&D materials used."
