Scaling up Reuse Jonathan Essex Sustainable Construction Manager, BioRegional...

Scaling up Reuse

Jonathan EssexSustainable Construction Manager,

BioRegional jonathan.essex@bioregional.com

07801 541 924

Outline

- Why Maximise Reuse?- Some Practical examples - Reuse organisations and CSR benefits

Key Learning: To maximise reuse, write reuse into the contract

Ecological Footprint by Country

UK

A Quick update of where we are now:

Resource use: links waste and climate impact

50% of impact is what we build and buy

Ecological Footprint of average UK resident: 5.45 Gha

CO2 emissions of average UK resident: 11.87 tonnes

Figures derived from REAP by BioRegional

Circular Economy: For all not just consumer goods

Source: www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

What is Reuse and Recycling?Term Definition Examples

Prepare for Reuse(Reclaim)

To recover a product for reuse, originally destined to be a waste

De-nail timber beams.Clean bricks from demolition site

Reuse Reuse of product in original form with minimal reprocessing

Reuse reclaimed beamsBuild wall from reclaimed bricks.

Recycle Recover constituent materials of a product to remake into product of equivalent value

Wood goes to chipboard. Sub-base into aggregateGlass recycled into new glass productRecover

(Downcycle)Recycle product into something of lower grade, in material/economic value.

Wood chips go to energy plant or are compostedBrick or glass turned into aggregate

Reuse helps reduce shared impacts

Reduce Reuse Recycle

Less Stuff Use Again

Zero Waste

Focus on Consumers

Plan to share cuts across all sectors

Plan to reduce CO2 of Construction

Reuse Buildings

Plan to reduce CO2 of Construction

Good Fac. Mgt.

Why worry about Embodied Carbon?

Estimates that it is approximately• 1 tonne CO2/m2 office• 9,000 tonnes/km dual carriageway• 56 tonnesCO2/ave. new house (www.censa.org.uk)

• 25 million homes• 50% embodied carbon is to maintain what we already have in the UK

Products = 80% of Construction CO2

Taken from the Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team Final Report, 2010

Breakdown of construction sector

• Housing Construction 13.9%• Infrastructure 7.6%• Other New Work 30.9%New Construction = 52%

• Housing Repair and Maintenance 24%• Other Repair and Maintenace 24%Maintain/improve existing = 48%

Data: ONS, Construction, 2010

Includes structure, fit-out and furnishings.

Modelling Operational and Embodied CO2e over 60 years for an AC office (Weight, 2011)

Why worry about Embodied Carbon?

Optimum Resource Use = Reuse?

Embodied carbon means rethinking waste

Case Study 1: Furniture Reuse

Source: www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/Office%20Furniture_final.pdf

Case Study 1: Furniture Reuse

Case Study 1: Furniture Reuse

“Businesses that reuse office chairs and desks are saving over £14 million a year, as well as helping to reduce carbon emissions and increase jobs in the UK”, according to new research by WRAP (2011).

Case Study 1: Furniture Reuse

"Hundreds of community organisations across the country have for many years been quietly salvaging, restoring and redistributing discarded furniture and equipment to provide vital help to families and other people in need, creating employment and training thousands of volunteers in the process."

Reuse creates more jobs

Jobs

25 jobs

2 - 4 jobs

1 job

Case Study 2: Computer Reuse

Case Study 2: Computer ReuseCO2kg/computer

+ 302

+ 7

0

Saves energy + waste

Less energy recovered. More waste.

Reuse cuts carbon emissions

Example: Wood Recycling Enterprise

Case Study 3: Timber Reuse

Timber CO2kg/tonne

Sequestered -1500

less energy to make Chipboard or MDF

EfW+CHP ~ -138 EfW ~ +310 Landfill ~ +340

Data: David Weight, ICE Energy Journal, November 2011

Note: Unsustainable source = extra 5-6 tonnesCO2/tonne

Case Study 3: Timber Reuse

Less timber reused: a lost opportunity

•Much Less Reuse. The timber reused in UK fell by 250,000 tonnes in 10 years until 2007. (10 of 16Mt/year imported, 10% comes from outside EU).•Special. We burn elm floorboards we used to reuse, for which you cannot source new. •New enterprises not plugging the gap. 20+ wood recycling not-for-profit enterprises reuse 0.4% of this. •Wasted carbon. The carbon saved by reuse (reducing need for virgin timber) is over twice CO2 on saving from a energy-from-waste plant. CO2 for deforestation average 1tonneCO2/ tonne timber used globally.

Reclaimed timber

• Sourced from reclamation yards• Or taken directly out of demolition jobs• Or from refurbishment

Joists can be:• Reused as joists or• Milled into floorboards

Studwork: not structural or visible54km at BedZEDcarbon benefit, cost neutral

Even best sites have left overs…

New homes for product: Play Association Tower Hamlets, Hackney Children's Scrap project, Hawkwood Allotments, Selby Trust, Arcola Theatre…

Case Study 4: Refurbish + Construction Surplus

Recycling – maximise segregation

•target rate 100% segregation •venues: monthly reporting

Example: Olympics Media Hub

•96% segregation on-site•wheelie bins near workforce•workforce engaged / aware•carrot: logistics team incentive to segregate•stick: subcontractor penalty for cross-contamination

Reuse Onsite – Waste Segragation

on-site materials exchange facility to redistribute material that is suitable for reuse off site.…allow redistribution back around the site of materials suitable for reuse. …develop on site materials exchange facilitymetal off-cut bins to be inspected…for reusable material before being added to the metal recycling for off site removal.

One Example…

‘Arcola Theatre brings the very best of the worlds performing and visual arts to the people of the world living and working in London’ The Guardian

Reclaimed – other examples

Reuse: $ incentive + Community-led

New York – Broadway Musicals done with reuse!

M & E - overcome barriers

Barriers to Reuse

Lead in Creating Solutions

Time and Lack of commitment

Put in Contract

Lack of space and cost of land

Site (lots empty)

Labour Intensive Process

Skills, Training and Social Benefits

Can we fix it?

Yes We Can… in London

Centres to Reuse All Products

Mayor's Office Press Release "£8m to create UK’s first city-wide reuse and repair service." (May 2010)

Yes We Can… in London

Centres to Reuse All Products

Yes We Can… in London

Centres to Reuse All Products

•    Bricks, blocks, Paving, flags•    Plumbing, drainage•    Timber, windows, doors•    Paint/decorating supplies. fixing

• Save CO2 emissions embodied in products• Can be significant financial / carbon savings• Efficient Collection Service• Good CSR potential• Links to Trainee and Apprenticeship Schemes

Benefits: Better FM, lower environmental impact

Some Recommendations

• Create a FM 'procurement and reuse strategy' as well as saving on-site energy use. Focus on fixtures, fittings and refurb not just the weekly wastestream

• Use and reuse - via third-sector organisations for furniture and IT; - via exchanges (e.g. recipro) and wood recycling projects for refurbs.

http://www.frn.org.uk/http://www.londonreuse.org/

Thank You

Jonathan EssexSustainable Construction Manager, BioRegional

jonathan.essex@bioregional.com07801 541 924

27th September 2013