CIRCULAR ECONOMY STATEMENTS AND STRATEGIES
Initially, the focus was on specifications for public and private procurement, now the focus has shifted to circular economy strategies and developing circular economy statements, for example, in the London Plan.
Circular Economy Statements
Reusefully can provide Circular Economy Statements in line with the requirements of the London Plan Guidance for Circular Economy Statements (CES) published in March 2022.
A CES aims to demonstrate how materials arising from any demolition works will be reused and/or recycled, and to consider the resource efficiency aspects of the development’s design and construction and end of life opportunities.
The CES can comprise of three stages:
- Pre-application (where relevant)
- Planning application (potentially both outline and detailed)
- Post-construction (upon commencement of RIBA Stage 6 and prior to the building being handed over, if applicable, generally no more than 3 months post-construction)
As part of the CES process, we will explore circularity at different stages. At pre-app, the proposed strategy for the project in terms of circularity (for any existing and new building and associated external works), design approaches and how this relates to other requirements and CSR obligations and the setting of relevant targets/metrics.
For outline or detailed planning, where there is an existing building, we will look at the pre-redevelopment audit (where undertaken) and the pre-demolition audit, and identify opportunities for reuse of materials (in the new development and elsewhere) and the amount of demolition waste to be segregated and associated targets.
For the new building, a number of material aspects will be investigated with the project team which includes the ability to use reclaimed materials and higher recycled content products for key components and elements, end-of-life considerations for key products, storage of information to aid with material reuse and recycling (e.g. material passports) and the completion of bills of quantities information including key product and materials.
A post-construction report (including the spreadsheet template) can also be produced.
Wider Circular Economy Strategies
Where there is no formal requirement for a CES for planning applications, we are also actively involved providing strategies for circular economy development. These can be based on the format of a CES as outlined above, and also encompass wider client and site-specific issues when needed.
These can consider issues such as
- the ability for the building to be flexible during use or be adapted for different uses
- the option key components to be disassembled and replaced
We will also look at the construction process, for example to include strategies for reducing excavation waste and ensuring it is diverted from landfill and best practice for waste minimisation. We can embrace the operational aspects of building occupation, with an operational waste strategy.