30 THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE
Stemming the plastic tide
As the construction sector looks to reduce its carbon emissions, there is one aspect that is often over- looked – plastic waste. Jack Wooler spoke to Phil Sutton, founder of Econpro, on the reasons why plastic still has a place in construction, and how it can become part of a circular economy.
he construction industry, as all other sectors, is undergoing a rising tide of plastic waste. In the UK, we go through 5 million tonnes of plastic every year, with construction accounting for 23 per cent of this.
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Unfortunately, this over-reliance on plastic has begun to take its toll on the environment. With the material often taking up to 1000 years to decompose – degrading and contaminating soils and oceans, and releasing greenhouse gases as it does so – many industry experts are pushing for change. “Boosted by the Attenborough effect,” as
one such expert – Phil Sutton, founder of plastic recycling specialist Econpro – puts it, “the detrimental impact
of plastic waste on our environment and within our oceans is devastatingly evident.” Because of this, he argues that manag-
ing such waste is “of absolute importance,” and that the industry must ensure “our diverse ecology is maintained by keeping plastic waste out of the open environment.”
WHY USE PLASTIC? With such negative connotations, it can seem as though plastic should never be used in the first place, but Phil says its benefits are still clear: “Plastic is an undeniably ideal material, and its impres- sive properties make it so attractive.” According to Econpro’s founder, the dominance of plastic is largely due to the nature of the material, it being “incredibly durable, versatile and reliable.” As just a few more examples of its benefits, he says it’s easy to process, light- weight, cost-effective, great for insulation and as an acoustic barrier, it doesn’t rot, need painting or produce carcinogenic dust, and requires less skilled labour – “the list really does go on.”
He argues however that it’s not the use of plastic itself that’s the problem: “Plastic is used for all the right reasons, but unfor- tunately too often it isn’t managed properly at end of life which leads to high levels of polluting waste.”
Being such a beneficial material for so many different building projects, what causes issues, says Phil, is the tonnes of discarded plastic packaging and the unnecessary waste associated with it. He describes how this is particularly embedded in the construction industry: “Poor management of plastics is often seen in construction – there is a high prevalence of plastics that are difficult to recycle, such as polyurethane insulation boards, or packaging film which is used for the majority of pallet wrapping.”
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
One of the most under-utilised aspects of plastic, Phil explained, is that vast amounts of plastic waste are in fact recyclable, and therefore there is no need for them to adversely impact the world around us.
“But to ensure this,” he said, “we need to enable both the consumer and the recycler to have better control of the process.” Historically, the UK, the US, and most European nations have been heavily reliant on other countries – particularly in Asia – to ‘offshore’ their waste. “This is something we must cease doing,” he insists.
According to Phil, some countries are already pushing back, with the Dutch Government having announced plans
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earlier this year to implement a €32-per- tonne tax on the import of foreign waste. He explains: “An integrated waste- management system on our own turf is of utmost importance, as well as only designing and producing products that have the ability to be recycled again at the end of their first life.
“It’s critical that we control our own domestic waste stream, not just so we’re less reliant on any offshore systems, but also so that we can use fewer virgin materials and non-renewable fuels.” There are many useful products or fuels that can be produced from such waste. All sorts of plastic waste, including that from housebuilding, is suitable for recycling into building materials as they tend to have a large thermoplastic polymer content.
In terms of fuel, plastics can be converted into a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF). SRFs utilised within a cement kiln would be classed as R1, meaning recovery and the ash content produced during this ‘co-combustion’ process is recovered and ends up within the cement product. “However,” said Phil, “when looking
at where this method sits in the waste hierarchy, it’s much less favourable than recycling as it only has one additional life.” He continued: “Choosing products which
can be completely recycled again at the end of their lifetime is the only way we can truly move towards a circular economy in the construction industry.” Additionally, Phil believes there needs to
be further incentivisation for product manufacturers themselves, in order to make sure what they are producing is 100 per cent recyclable, and that they provide clear instructions on how to recycle responsibly. Another issue he raises here is how
long it takes for new recycled products to get approved specification: “Operationally, the benefits are clear, but if it’s not officially specified then it’s unlikely to be widely adopted across the board.”
WHAT NEXT? With the continuation of widespread plastic use looking likely for some time to come, and the ability to vastly reduce its waste being available already, it is currently up to councils, housebuilders and the rest of the sector to take action to address this issue. While the carbon footprint of housebuild-
ing is something that will be closely monitored in the form of BREEAM points, the construction industry at present report- edly doesn’t have genuine real plastic waste reduction targets. “This is something we are seeing make waves in the packaging industry, in the case
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