Tried and tested material reuse solutions from demolition sites

Reclaiming building components from demolition sites and making them available for reuse has clear environmental benefits, including reducing the amount of waste generated, and preserving energy and resources required for recycling or making new products. It’s not practical or possible to reuse everything, but there are undoubtedly significant opportunities to reuse components.

At Helsinki Area Reuse Centre we prioritise items that are easy to disassemble or are freely movable from the site, such as doors with frames, lamps and refrigerators. Through CIRCuIT, we’ve been exploring how to upscale the uptake of reclaimed components from demolition sites by property owners in Helsinki. Here we present the findings from our trials and offer our recommendations for best practice.