{"id":155054,"date":"2025-09-11T07:02:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T06:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=155054"},"modified":"2025-09-12T15:17:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T14:17:04","slug":"mass-timber-perfect-circular-economy-building-material","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/mmc-news\/mass-timber-perfect-circular-economy-building-material\/155054\/","title":{"rendered":"Mass timber is the perfect circular economy building material"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a mature, high-income western economy, we face a practical conflict between our living standards and the over-use of raw materials<\/h2>\n

The Global Footprint Network has created the concept of Earth Overshoot Day. It marks the point each year when humanity\u2019s resource consumption surpasses what the planet can replenish. Each country has its own date, reflecting what would happen if the world consumed resources at that country\u2019s rate.<\/p>\n

\"Earth
\u00a9Earth Overshoot Day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the UK, it falls on 20 May. That means for more than half the year we are using up finite resources that will not be replenished.<\/p>\n

In short, we are consuming too much \u201cstuff\u201d and depleting the metals, fuels and minerals we dig up: lithium, oil and gas, coal, limestone and more. When these run short, our economy suffers and living standards fall. We have been there before. Many will remember the miners\u2019 strikes of the 1970s and the three-day week that followed.<\/p>\n

The only way out of this dilemma is to innovate, to meet demand more efficiently or to find renewable ways of producing the same results.<\/p>\n

We have already begun in energy, replacing fossil fuels with wind turbines and photovoltaic cells. In some cases, we are making better products with less material. But progress is rarely straightforward. Cars, for example, have steadily grown heavier and larger: so-called \u201cautobesity\u201d. According to Wikipedia, the average weight of cars sold in Europe rose by 21% between 2001 and 2022, partly due to the heavy battery packs carried by electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

The construction industry matters<\/h3>\n

Construction is estimated to consume around half of all global materials. If that is even close to the truth, our industry carries enormous responsibility, and with it an equally large opportunity to set an example.<\/p>\n

There are already many things we can do:<\/p>\n