14 VIEWS Changing Streams
advocates for a number of long-term initiatives, including ending the use of plastic wrapping for building materials
cent first-year allowances to invest in environmentally friendly and efficient technologies. It is a step in the right direction and makes perfect sense from a business perspective: if as a company you are getting tax relief, as well as paying less on landfill tax and spending less on handling waste (the cost of skip hires and clearing and collection soon adds up), then the idea of using single-use plastics becomes a lot less attractive. As well as this, the Government announced its Green Industrial Revolution in November 2020, including a 10-point plan to bolster and support hundreds of thousands of highly skilled jobs within sustainability and the green sector. This initiative has been backed by £12bn of Government investment, and is also
intended to produce around £36bn in private sector investment by 2030.
The role of the built environment in tackling plastic pollution Changing Streams’ expertise within the construction industry places it in a good position to be able to help support the industry in its efforts to reduce plastic. There is an overarching ambition to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but we need to be mindful that we should not be achieving these targets by increasing the amount of plastic, as this will also have a significant environmental impact. What is needed, therefore, is for us to recognise and help establish a link between carbon pollution and plastic pollution. The creation of a charter to bring stakeholders together offers significant benefits to Changing Streams members. Regular communication and networking to share ideas and best practice, and access to accredited training schemes and bespoke action plans, will aid in the reduction of plastic usage on an individual company level.
In order to bring together experts from across the construction, scientific and
environmental communities, to successfully facilitate research that will ultimately lead to a reduction in plastics in buildings and throughout the industry’s supply chain, we need the combined support of all stakeholders.
The mission of Changing Streams advocates for a number of long-term initiatives, including ending the use of plastic wrapping for building materials and the creation of a scientific-based accreditations system to access plastic content in products. However, this is only achievable if the entire industry commits to engaging and supporting it. We have more resources at our disposal than ever before, and yet we are still not moving quickly enough. In every other area the construction industry has been solutions-focused – once we were aware of the damage asbestos does to our lungs we reframed our opinion on it – so why can’t we do the same for the plastic pandemic? For more information about membership, or other ways you can support Changing Streams, visit
www.changingstreams.org
Neal Maxwell is the founder of Changing Streams
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
ADF APRIL 2021
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