On-demand webinar

Circular economy: strategies for concrete buildings

There is a growing recognition that we urgently need to transform our throwaway take-make-dispose economy into a circular one, in which resources are kept in use for as long as possible.

Case Studies

Space House, London

The rebirth of 1960s icon Space House as a 21st-century office inventively reuses both its pioneering hybrid structure and its precast cladding.

Circle House, Denmark

Denmark’s first circular housing scheme has precast concrete components that can be configured and reconfigured in different ways, writes Pamela Buxton

Concrete Compass: Circular economy

Navigating to useful resources and guidance

There is a growing recognition among governments, businesses and the public that we need to transform our take-make-dispose economy into a more circular one, in which resources are kept in use for as long as possible while maximum value is extracted. 

This compass seeks to direct to the current and evolving resources and guidance and cases studies provided by The Concrete Centre to help designers and specifiers make informed decisions regarding concrete and to encourage practices that supports a more circular economy. 

General guidance

Circularity is closely linked to material efficiency. Key guidance and links to resources to assist with efficiency of structural design is available via the Concrete Compass: Material Efficiency and a dedicated webpage on dematerialisation. The Concrete Centre publication Material Efficiency provides design guidance for doing more with less using concrete and masonry. 

UK Concrete Circular Economy Framework  

Circular Economy is one of the four areas of focus of the refreshed UK Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Strategy Framework published in 2024. The circular economy focus for UK Concrete is to continually develop these priorities for the concrete sector and its associated supply chain, as well as collaborating with stakeholders to evolve the understanding of concrete’s role in supporting a circular economy across its whole life cycle.    ​

Articles, guidance and case studies related to the key circular economy strategies of reduce, reuse and recycling are gathered below. 

Focus on: Waste reduction 

The UK concrete industry is a net user of waste, consuming 285 times more waste than it sends to landfill according to 2023 data. In 2023 the industry sourced 41.4% of its energy from materials diverted from the waste stream and the aim is to increase this even further. 

A recent study on wastage rates provides guidance on current wastage rates associated with common forms of concrete construction. Read more.  

More information on the concrete industry's actions on reducing waste can be sourced from the annual Concrete Industry Sustainability Performance Reports.   

Focus on: Life extension - building reuse 

The inherent low maintenance and durable nature of a concrete structure, together with its resilience to fire and the impacts of climate change, mean that it can remain in use over a long period, with the potential to be repurposed and reused multiple times during its lifetime. 

More information about the reuse of concrete can be found here

A collection of reused, repurposed, expanded and reinvented case study exemplars can be found in ‘CQ Focus: Reuse’.

Summary guidance for engineers for assessing the potential for reuse of a concrete structure can be found in the Concrete Quarterly technical article ‘Reusing structures: One step closer to a circular economy’. It is available to read in the 2022 CQ technical compendium

Focus on: product or component reuse

Many concrete products such as panels, posts and paving are regularly reused in their original form. The Concrete Quarterly, spring 2024 article ‘Reusing Concrete Elements’ provides examples of extracting and repurposing concrete components.  : 

  • Space House – using refurbished, repositioned precast cladding. Also featured in this Sustainability Series webinar
  •  
  •  
  • Webinar presentation on concrete designed for disassembly and reuse in car park construction – view here 
  • The upper tiers of the London Olympic stadium featured in CQ Autumn 2012 
  •  

Focus on: designing for future reuse  

The article ‘This is not the end’ in Concrete Futures Spring 2024 explores examples of projects designed to be adaptable, retained for long life, and designed for disassembly and reuse.   

Some examples of concrete structures designed to be disassembled for reuse:  

Focus on: recycling concrete

Concrete is fully recyclable and the supply chain for processing for use in construction is well established.  More detailed information on the ways in which concrete is and can be recycled are available here.  

It is common practice to include some recycled or secondary material content in the manufacture of concrete, including its cementitious binder, aggregate and reinforcement. The MPA report, Construction Aggregates Supply in Great Britain, estimated that in 2023, recycled and secondary sources of aggregates accounted for 31% (74.3 million tonnes) of the overall supply of construction aggregates in Great Britain, one of the highest recycling rates in Europe.  Guidance on use of recycled material, waste and secondary materials in the manufacture of concrete and cement is available here.  

The article ‘Closing the Loop’ in Concrete Futures Spring 2024 explores innovative technologies for processing concrete waste. This is based on the Making Better Use of Recycled Concrete Demolition Waste conference held by the University of Cambridge and The Concrete Centre in November 2023. A full written record of the proceedings can be downloaded here, which also contains links to the recordings of each session. 

Further articles about some of the innovations featured at the event include:  

 Back to Concrete Compass main page

Making better use of recycled concrete

Report on ‘Making Better Use of Recycled Concrete Demolition Waste’ conference held by The Concrete Centre in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, November 2023.

Material Efficiency

YouTube library

Thermal Mass, AKT II, Bennetts Associates & Arup

Thermal mass in concrete and masonry can help us to tackle the challenges of a changing climate. We've been working with AKT II, Arup and Bennetts Associates to bring this essential technical concept to life. The result is pretty cool.