{"id":23312,"date":"2016-03-24T09:28:25","date_gmt":"2016-03-24T09:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=23312"},"modified":"2016-03-24T09:59:05","modified_gmt":"2016-03-24T09:59:05","slug":"steel-reuse-and-circular-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/plant-equipment-supplies-news\/steel-reuse-and-circular-economy\/23312\/","title":{"rendered":"Steel reuse and the circular economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) is leading on an Innovate UK study: Circular Economy Business Models; Reuse of structural steel within construction.<\/h1>\n

We\u2019re using structural steel as an example of a durable and high value good and looking to retain that value now and into the future. We are collaborating with SCI, Ellis and Moore and Cleveland Steel and Tubes, with support from the University of Cambridge, University of Sheffield and UCL, NFDC and Cullinan Studio.<\/p>\n

The ASBP Reusable Buildings Network will launch under this project, with secretariat from us. We\u2019re using structural steel as an example of a durable and high value good and looking to retain that value now and into the future.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/strong>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Reused steel has 4% of the environmental impact of new steel (BRE, 2002);
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Reused steel should offer cost savings;
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Plus additional social value: job creation, training, Up-Skilling, knowledge sharing, learning, feedback, localism. Fewer product miles = less pollution = improved health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n

Overcoming the barriers to reuse:<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have identified many barriers to steel reuse \u2013 none of them on their own are insurmountable, but to overcome them all will require a collaborative approach.<\/p>\n

The main barriers can be summarised as:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0No client has ever asked for this;
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Lack of regulatory drivers;
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0No demand, therefore, no supply;
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0CE marking \u2013 barrier or opportunity?<\/p>\n

The ASBP Reusable Buildings Network will begin to address these barriers in the following way:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We will create a client-facing document on the benefits of retention and reuse and the circular economy;
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0A workshop in May with local authorities and the Network to consider the potential for planning guidance to encourage reuse and the circular economy, over the next 6 months;
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Innovate UK project 132106 led by SCI, is examining the feasibility of a web-based portal to match supply and demand;
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We will create a discussion piece around CE marking and create a campaign. Roy Fishwick, Cleveland Steel and Tubes and collaborator, has identified this as a real threat to reuse.<\/p>\n

The Reusable Buildings Network will be hosted by ASBP. We will meet twice in May and September. In May, we will issue a report into the multiple barriers that need to be overcome to enable reuse, the business case, client benefits, approaches to the numbers and a snapshot of the steel market.<\/p>\n

ASBP will prepare 3 case studies on new business models and approaches; for consideration are:<\/p>\n