A team of sustainable
materials specialists have received funding from the Centre for
Remanufacturing and Reuse to set up Building Material Re-use Centres
(BRMCs) in the UK. The Centres will provide business and social
opportunities for a wide range of stakeholders and will bring cut
price reclaimed building products to small scale trade and the general
public while reducing environmental impact. The team are looking
for partners from social enterprises, local authorities and the
building industry to work with them to deliver the Centres.
Sustainable materials specialists BioRegional, WasteWISE and MASCo
are working together to develop a Business Plan Toolkit and e-network
for UK BRMCs. The partners aim to support the establishment of 3
to 5 different Centres across the UK.
BMRCs or ReStores, as they are
also known, already run successfully in most USA towns and cities.
They are financially sustainable retail outlets that sell reusable
building materials to trade and general public and can bring many
additional benefits for the environment and community.
There is already a wealth of social enterprises across the UK successfully
retailing reusable materials such as wood and furniture. Up until
now, none have focussed on the huge opportunity presented by the
reuse of building materials. There is a gap in the market.
The team’s business model
for BMRCs will be based on vibrant retail outlets, run as social
enterprises. Outlets will source “as new” products from
the excess materials of new build and regeneration projects and
reclaimable materials from the wider building sector. Prices will
be cheaper than for new equivalents.
With successful UK BMRCs, all
the building products sold for reuse will replace the need to manufacture
them as new. This saves the impacts associated with both manufacture
and disposal, including reducing C02 emissions, whilst creating
employment, training and second-use affordable building materials.
The team will circulate a draft
business plan toolkit for review by March 2008 and a final version
for use during April 2008. Their plan is to develop an e-network
of potential BMRCs and support organisations across the UK to share
materials and information, capture learning, develop a strong brand
identity and influence national policy.
The team want to hear from:
• Social enterprises and community/training projects looking
for expansion
• Building sector companies looking to diversify or address
waste management
• Support organisations wanting to advise/assist projects
and/or businesses
• Other sector networks
• Local authorities and other public sector organisations.
Anyone interested in discussing
opportunities to work with the team on setting up BMRCs in the UK
should contact:
Ronan Leyden, Reclamation Officer, BioRegional,
ronan.leyden@bioregional.com 020 8404 4897
and/or Lewis Herbert, WasteWISE Consultants, lewis@wastewise.org.uk
01223 411699
Notes:
Centre for Remanufacturing
and Reuse (CRR)
The CRR promotes remanufacturing and reuse and is funded by Defra.
The aim is to develop policies and strategies that boost remanufacturing
and reuse, helping businesses (both consumers of remanufactured
goods and remanufacturers), governmental policy makers, OEMs and
trade bodies to deliver more remanufactured goods and thus reduce
our impact on the environment, and at a profit. www.remanufacturing.org.uk
Waste Wise
WasteWISE are waste consultants developing recycling and reuse partnerships
between commercial organisations and community organisations. www.wastewise.org.uk
MASCO
MASCO is one of Britain's largest suppliers of reclaimed architectural
and traditional building materials with an industry renowned dismantling
team. www.catbrain.com
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