Briefing: Reuse and recycling rates of UK steel demolition arisings Available to Purchase

The reuse and recycling of steel has an important part to play in developing a circular economy. Regulators are increasingly looking to improve resource efficiency and, in particular, reduce the large quantities of construction and demolition waste generated each year. For example, the construction products regulation requires consideration of the ‘reuse or recyclability of the construction works, their materials and parts after demolition’ as part of the requirement for the sustainable use of natural resources. This paper describes a survey of UK demolition contractors undertaken to estimate the reuse and recycling rates of steel construction products arising from the demolition of buildings in the UK. The results are presented and compared with an earlier survey conducted in 2000. The results suggest that steel has increased its combined reuse and recycling rate to 96% (up from 93%) with, on average, 91% recycled and 5% reused. This demonstrates that steel continues to be a major contributor to sustainability and resource efficiency in the built environment, by minimising waste and ensuring that steel building materials can ultimately be reused and recycled again and again, without loss of properties.