We have recently discussed the subject of waste and recycling. When discussing it, we also explained a particularly useful tactic to battle waste, the RRR acronym. RRR stands for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and is an acronym widely used by anti-waste campaigns. Let us have a look at the examples of materials used on construction sites with the potential to be reduced, reused and/or recycled in line with the above.

Examples of materials often found on construction sites are; glass, timber, metal, plasterboard, plastic, paper, rubber, concrete and more. All of those materials have the potential to either be reduced, reused and/or recycled in one way or another. When it comes to the reduction of use, steel has been mentioned particularly often by the experts. It is regarded as a durable and strong material with the potential to be used in smaller quantities while still meeting the construction standards. Modular building frames are made of steel therefore the construction of our buildings is considered light and strong. Steel can be joined by bolting or welding and can also be reused. As material steel is considered good to recycle. A fair proportion of steel used in the construction industry currently is being recycled. Recycling of steel can also be improved even more.  

There are many ways to reuse other construction industry materials as well. One of the most versatile is wood which can be reused in a number of ways. From simply reusing wood within the elements of a construction project, through using it as a decorative element in the house to using it as part of landscaping in various forms or, depending on the quality, as firewood. The better the wood quality the more options we have. Depending on the condition and previous use we might be forced to use it for something specific.  For instance, a lower quality wood will only be able to be used as firewood.

Another material good to be recycled is glass. When recycled, glass does not lose its quality and therefore is considered a high-quality recyclable material. We can’t say the same about paper as recycled paper loses on quality. Recycling paper is still highly useful as through recycling we are lowering amounts of new materials used, plus, the variety of papers is needed for different industries.

Bricks are something to reuse in construction industry too. If in good condition, bricks can often be reused again in a traditional way or alternatively can be crushed into brick chips and reused this way, as part of landscape material for instance. Plasterboard is a 100% recyclable material. It can be reprocessed and reused again. Crushed concrete can also be reused, as an aggregate for instance. Rubber can be recycled or it can also be reused as a DIY material. It is worth remembering that if we do not personally want to reuse some of the materials in a particular way, we can always find someone who will.

Out of a long list, plastic is probably one of the most problematic materials to be reused. There are many trying to find ideas and solutions to the plastic problem. One of the plastic biggest issues is the fact that there are so many different kinds of it, that not all can be recycled in the same way, therefore, trying to reduce its use is probably our best option. We can reuse what is possible, recycle as much as possible and keep looking for experts’ advice on alternative solutions.

Christmas is behind us now and New Year has already started. In 2020 we can respond in a positive way by implementing the tactic of three R’s and not only in the construction industry. New Year gives us the opportunity to reflect and to undertake steps towards a future of reduced waste.

Waste is a major subject in the centre to overcoming environmental issues. We buy, we use, we consume and we discard. This process creates a lot of waste. Global anti-waste campaigns, when discussing this subject, use abbreviation RRR, which stands for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. According to the campaigns, the three R’s need to be acted upon fast in order to save the environment. It is a call to governments, manufacturers and consumers.

At the same time, as a response, more voices are rising against recycling recently. Voices of people who are starting to doubt the benefits of the processes in use. As an example of their concerns, you will hear about dishonest businesses who, under the recycling label, are simply moving waste from one country to another. Furthermore, the concerns are raised regarding the subject of cities and countries who, because of unsuitable recycling processes in use, are not saving enough energy and wasting more than it is necessary. Similarly, also because of unsuitable equipment many recyclable materials cannot be recycled properly or at all.

Based on the above arguments, it becomes clear, why people are starting to doubt the benefits of recycling and are opposing it altogether as well as claiming recycling to be generating more problems than solving.

Recycling does in fact need urgent improvements, in many areas across the globe, it needs improvement particularly if we want to have a real positive impact. Does this give us the right to claim it’s better not to recycle at all though?

If we focus on all three R’s discussed at the top of this article, we may prove to have more influence on the subject of waste than we anticipate. Many reducible/reusable/recyclable materials can be found widely in stores, factories, households, construction sites and more. Anti-waste/recycling arguments, discussed above, often simplify the subject of waste focusing on Recycling alone – its faults but not improvements. Mostly pointing to negatives without giving solutions. Forgetting about the other two R’s is limiting our options, while many people can also Reduce and Reuse. There is enough information about the subject of recycling to realise that even with current, far from perfect processes in use, we are still better off with recycling than without it. As David Attenborough said in a documentary titled Blue Planet II, “Surely we have a responsibility to care for our blue planet”. A combination of reducing, reusing and recycling by both consumers and manufacturers could be the answer. Alternatives to using materials such as plastic as well as implementing rules and policies on who’s doing it and how it’s done need to be implemented by the governments. This should include responsibility for reducing/reusing/and recycling not being pushed only to consumers alone but also to manufacturers. This requires public demand. With the right amount of public demand, improvement to recycling processes will happen. Continuing with the belief in three R’s, we will be discussing some of the construction industry materials with the potential to be reduced, reused or recycled in our next article.

Architectural approaches and trends are constantly changing as architects keep striving for innovation. Clients’ needs, technological advancement, political and economic circumstances or even extreme weather conditions keep influencing architectural solutions worldwide. As a modular building supplier, we believe in portable or modular, prefabricated buildings, to be one of the most innovative architectural forms fulfilling contemporary needs and trends. Hence, we spend a lot of time and energy to perfect our products further.

Particularly interesting architectural projects often evolve from marrying unexpected solutions between various fields, such as for instance Botanical Architecture. As we are all well aware of, one of major problems of today is air pollution. We would like to discuss an architectural example performing particularly important role by addressing air pollution and sustainability. Architects around the world are looking for various solutions to these issues and Stefano Boeri Architetti studio does that with great effects. As part of Boeri project, Tirana Master Plan, the aim is to build sustainable tower building for residential purposes. The idea of city reforestation is in the heart of this project. Tirana Master Plan is a larger project which will includes raising residential tower building, in Tirana, Albania. This architectural plan uses similar solutions to another project by the same studio, called Vertical Forest, already built successfully in Milan. Tirana residential tower building will combine thousands of plants and shrubs as well as hundreds of trees. All the greenery will be planted around the tower building terrace areas and in its architectural form it will result in the modern hybrid look of a tower fused with plants, as if a giant architectural tree appeared in an urban environment. Enhancing this modern futuristic design, will be a substantial number of windows.

The project has been designed with detailed analysis of plants in use, taking into account irrigation, positioning and type of plants in order to create sustainable microclimate and the best possible conditions for the plants in use.

More architects and more architectural plans are looking into sustainable solutions as a response to current issues with our natural world. Is this how our future cities will look like, full of sustainable architecture and greenery? It is definitely a great start to finding solutions to some of major problems of today. We will be discussing more revolutionary architecture in our future articles.