Recycling scare hits contractors

An experiment by the Building Research Establishment has fuelled contractors' fears that using recycled materials can lead to higher construction costs exacerbated by a lack of markets for recycling waste.

The BRE stipulated a maximum reuse and recycling of materials on a œ2 million project involving the demolition of a building and construction of its replacement at its Hertfordshire headquarters.

The winning demolition tender from GJ Gaywood was several thousand pounds lower than the nearest rival. This was because 96 per cent of waste by volume generated by the demolition was able to be reused or recycled, enabling the contractor to save on waste disposal costs and to make money on salvaged material.

The project set a precedent in the UK by using recycled aggregates in the ready-mixed concrete.

It used 80,000 reclaimed bricks for external cladding and 300m2 of reclaimed parquet flooring, which generated savings of 30 per cent compared to using new wood block flooring.

But the savings were wiped out by the reclaimed bricks costing around œ450 per 1,000 compared to œ300 per 1,000 for new bricks.

The project also experienced difficulties in finding a market for the recycling of metal, timber and general construction waste. It also incurred extra haulage costs for the transport of the aggregates from London to Rickmansworth.

But Gilli Hobbs, researcher at BRE, said: "The extra cost was probably less than one per cent of the œ2 million total bill and if a client wants a contractor to use recycled materials the extra cost is worth it."

Hobbs said that while the quality of the recycled materials used for its project was as good if not superior to that of virgin products, the BRE and British Standards Institute have launched a pilot scheme to introduce a national quality control scheme that will reassure contractors.

But a spokesman for the House Builders' Federation said: "You're going to have a very difficult time persuading contractors to use recyled materials because of doubts about the quality of the products and the extra cost.

"Even a mere one per cent increase is not something that can be passed on by contractors."