Home Property Australia Government support could help overcome barriers to reuse and recycle building materials

Government support could help overcome barriers to reuse and recycle building materials

  • July 05, 2023
  • by Property Australia
The construction sector is responsible for 18 per cent of Australia’s carbon footprint

With the construction sector responsible for 18 per cent of Australia’s carbon footprint, finding ways to reuse and recycle building material waste is increasingly a topic of concern, with new research from The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) highlighting how government support can help overcome barriers. 

The research, ‘Building materials in a circular economy’, undertaken for AHURI by researchers from RMIT University and University of Wollongong, analyses the life cycles of building materials as they are used in construction and then disposed or recycled when the building is demolished so as to assist the residential housing industry to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

“Although much of the waste generated through construction or demolition can be recycled or be used as a resource in other ways, in general, construction businesses are reluctant to do so,” research author Professor Tony Dalton from RMIT University said.

“Instead they find that the cost of reusing materials is higher than using new materials; there isn’t an established market for waste materials; they’re hesitant to use available technological and practical knowledge to reduce the waste; and there is a broad perception that Australia has abundant supplies of natural resources so they don’t really need to bother.

“Our research established that 27 industries deliver products and services to the building site when a house or apartment building is being constructed. Because residential building projects are time-limited, one-off projects, these supply chains are being continuously dismantled and remade for each new project, which limits the ability of the suppliers to introduce changes to materials or their use.

“We found that policy development should focus on creating incentives for construction companies to reuse materials, as well as encouraging other ways to reduce embodied energy through material selection and the use of local products that require less transportation. Government regulation can target low carbon building methods and materials, including supporting reuse, rethink, repurpose or remanufacture.”

The report found it is difficult for building-industry stakeholders to economically justify disassembly and reuse and that government policy should focus on incentivising disassembly for material reuse. 

“Creating markets for materials reuse within Australia is important, but as many materials and products are imbricated in global supply chains, it is likely that these markets will also be connected to international markets. It is important to ensure that local building-industry actors seeking to reuse materials are not penalised by markets that do not value construction waste,” the report noted.

Expanding the talent pool of workers with a knowledge of circular economies is also important, according to the report. 

“This can be done through curriculum development for use in universities and TAFEs, along with professional development in-service training that presents built-environment embodied carbon and CE concepts. These education and training programs would focus on topics such as materials manufacturing, material supply chains, materials innovation, construction, maintenance and deconstruction processes, building-industry institutional arrangements and emissions reduction policy,” the report said. 

Other policy suggestions are further research into the flow of materials, regulation for low carbon, titling investment flows and developing low-carbon supply chains.