Gurung

Megna Gurung K1134887
Abstract
The UK along with other countries in the world has to sooner or later face reality that raw
materials are running out. The rapidly growing population with the ever rising number of
development in the country is depleting the materials very quickly. So, there is a need for
extensive implementation of regulations regarding low carbon commissions and waste
management system.
Construction in todays world is not only about building and making new structures but also
about maintaining and adapting new technologies into existing infrastructure. To better
understand the relation between a sustainable world and materials, this report carries out an in
depth analysis of the uses of concrete compared to timber, steel and glass. Issues affecting
sustainable construction and regulations to control and control them were also studied. This
report discusses the importance of waste management, especially recycling which could in fact
improve carbon emission levels resulting in an improved environment.
Finally, consumer awareness about the benefits of recycling and its importance for a greener
environment is crucial as customer opinion about recycled materials and products are negative.
Also, the prices of raw materials being cheaper than recycled material make construction
companies reluctant to use recycled material. So government has to take an initiative to help
increase the popularity of recycled materials through advertisements or legislations.
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Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my supervisor Maia Ibsen for her constant support and guidance
throughout the report whenever I felt hopeless with the huge amount of task ahead.
The unconditional love and support from my family is one of the reason I am able to complete
this course successfully. I also take this opportunity to thank my dearest friends Abina and
Sanju who have made these three years a joy and a learning experience as well. Finally my
gratitude goes to all those who have helped my home country, Nepal to overcome the great
disaster. Thank you.
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Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... i
Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................................................... ii
Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1
Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 2
2.2 Materials............................................................................................................................................ 3
2.2.1 Concrete ........................................................................................................................................ 4
2.2.2 Timber ........................................................................................................................................ 6
2.2.3 Steel ........................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2.4 Glass ........................................................................................................................................ 11
2.3 Waste .............................................................................................................................................. 12
2.4 Sustainability .................................................................................................................................. 14
2.5 Waste Management Hierarchy .................................................................................................... 15
2.5.1 Prevention ............................................................................................................................... 16
2.5.2 Recycling ................................................................................................................................. 16
2.5.3 Recovery /Treatment ............................................................................................................. 18
2.5.4 Disposal ................................................................................................................................... 19
2.6 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................................................... 20
Chapter 3: Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 22
3.1 Research ......................................................................................................................................... 22
3.2 Case Studies .................................................................................................................................. 22
3.2.1 Case Study 1: Tennessee NFL Stadium ............................................................................ 23
3.2.2 Case Study 2: Shavings into Savings ................................................................................. 24
3.2.3 Case Study 3: Rumpke Recycling ....................................................................................... 25
3.2.4 Case Study 4: The Lackenby open hearth steel plant ...................................................... 25
3.3 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................................................... 26
Chapter 4: Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 27
Chapter 5: Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 29
References ................................................................................................................................................ 31
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Concrete mix. Source: Unicorn Ready mix (2013) ....................................................... 4

Figure 2: Comparison of energy required to produce material. Source:Tasmian Timber (2006) . 4
Figure 3: Comparison of amount of carbon stored in materials. Source: Tasmian Timber (2006) 5
Figure 4: Timber log stacks. Source: Leaper (2015) ................................................................... 6
Figure 5: Sawn Softwood Utilisation Trends in main markets in the UK, 2002-2013. Source:
Moore (2014) ............................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 6: Stainless steel. Source: Thomasnet (2015) ................................................................. 9
Figure 7: Actual emissions for EU-15. Source: European Commission (2013) ..........................10
Figure 8: SD Polymer building. Source: Chanzhou (2007) ........................................................11
Figure 9: Waste arising by sector. Source: Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs
(2015) .......................................................................................................................................13
Figure 10: Number of Fly tipping accidents, England, 2007/08-2013/14. Source: Department for
Environment Food & Rural Affairs (2015) ..................................................................................13
Figure 11: Local authority collected waste management, England, 2000/01-2013/14. Source:
Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (2015) .........................................................14
Figure 12: Waste Hierarchy. Source: defra (2011) ....................................................................15
Figure 13: End of Life Scenarios. Source: Steel construction (2015) .........................................18
Figure 14: Wood shavings. Source: Wood Waste Technology (2012) .......................................24
Figure 15: Finely ground glass. Source: Cullin, Sara (2013)......................................................25
Figure 16: Demolition of the Lackenby plant. Source: Corus Construction & Industrial (2006) ..26
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How sustainable can a recycled waste material be?
Chapter 1: Introduction
The most popular incident surrounding civil engineers in the Victorian era would be the
construction of new sewers in Victorian London by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Joseph
Bazalgette (Baveystock, 2013). In those days, civil engineering meant designing and
constructing structures that would make life easier. However, in the present time engineers are
also responsible for maintaining and adapting new methods to improve existing infrastructure
i.e. roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, dams, waste networks and many more including building
structures for residential, commercial and leisure purposes. It is very important to take in
consideration how to reduce the consumption of natural materials to lower the level of CO2
emission into the environment.
Construction sector in the UK produces the most waste products as it contributes to about 90
billion totalling 6.7% of the countrys economy. The industry creates about 10% of the whole UK
employment section which is approximately about 2.9 million jobs in about 280,000 businesses.
The number did decrease with the recession in 2007 and 2012 due to the increase in raw
material price and government cuts however; the sector did have a large sum of contribution
into the economy.
This project intends to investigate on sustainable and waste materials that could be used again
for any construction purposes. In addition to research on concrete, this project will also try to
find other building materials that could be recycled and overall improve the performance of the
material. Exploring the idea of new recycled materials and processes that allow materials to be
stored and reused again in the future would be the crucial finding.
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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
The research will provide a thorough understanding of the effects of sustainable materials. The
report also promises to discuss current UK legislation which has been introduced to control the
use of sustainable materials in the UK. Furthermore, the project will also be looking into how
construction waste is handled.
To realise the importance of materials in life, it is very important to understand the beginning of
its whereabouts. One of the earliest evidence of a man-made habitat found was Olduvai Gorge
in Central Africa dating back to 2,000,000 BCE, which was a simple structure consisting of one
flat stone that was laid on top of two vertical stones. In the early days, clay and wood were very
often used in construction for dwellings. During the River valley civilisations, mud and straw
were used to make bricks by forming a wooden frame with the wet mixture, which was then left
in the sun to be dried. The sun dried bricks were then used to make houses and pavements. In
Ancient Egypt stone was also the main building material; rough stones were transported to be
used for building interior walls and foundation, basalt for paving roads and convertible diorites
for statues (example-The Chephren statue). In the Greek Era, Post 1800 BC the use of stones
in building construction carried on, however the focus was on the embellishment of the buildings
hence machinery were built which would lift heavy stones into place and no mortar was ever
used. There were a few indications to show that timber was utilised as a beam supported by
stone columns and wood was mainly used for roofs. (Shi & Mo, 2008, p. 3)
The Romans have a great influence in what construction we have present today. They were the
first to invent the three different construction methods; Stone and masonry, Concrete
construction and Timber and metal. In the 2nd Century BC Romans invented brick
construction which was lime mortar in short consisting of lime, sand and water. One example
would be the Hagia Sophia with its brick dome spanning 32.6 m. In the 3rd Century BC, Romans
started to add pozzalana into lime to make mortar and concrete stronger. They were also the
inventors of the basic idea of a truss and designed bronze trusses were developed to make the
structure durable and last longer. They also made use of lead for roofs and pipe lines to supply
water in and out of dwellings as it was waterproof. Another great invention by the Romans was
glass. They were mostly used for mosaics in different colours for interior decorations but later on
the first clear glass window made was recorded by the Romans. (Shi & Mo, 2008, p. 4)
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The Industrial Age also very commonly known as the Industrial Revolution Era was all about
mass production. New technologies were being built to produce new materials and prototypes.
Iron was one of the most commonly used material as it could be made easily for construction at
a large scale. Bricks, glass and cement were materials that was very sought after and
extensively used in the era. Another interesting invention in the era would be of reinforced
concrete by Joseph Monier. He combined the tensile strength of metal and the compressive
strength of concrete to withstand heavy loads. (Shi & Mo, 2008, p. 5)
Constructions in the 20th century were all about the High Rise steel buildings and structures and
the very first structure to be built on steel was the Eiffel Tower. In the years after the WWII,
glass was being used in high-rise structures in curtain walled skyscrapers. This made the
invention of rubber possible which was then used in between the glass as sealant allowing the
control of temperature inside the building.
In the present day, materials are required to provide a greater strength, ductility, durability and
resistance to external elements than any other traditional materials and also significantly
increase the longevity of structures and also reduce maintenance costs. Some of the materials
developed to fulfil these requirements are high performance concrete, high performance steel,
fibre reinforced cement composites and FRP composites. These high performance materials
are popular due to their unique mechanical properties and resistance to corrosion. They also
have an innovative approach that emphasises on environmental protection by conserving
natural resources as they have environmental friendly properties and possess great recyclable
capability than other conventional construction materials. (Shi & Mo, 2008, p. 11)
2.2 Materials
Construction and demolition works produces buildings and facilities, but it also involves waste
production. To control and manage waste production in the construction sector, it is very
important to understand the materials properties, uses, waste management hierarchy and also
rules and regulations affecting sustainability. The basic materials this report will be looking at
are used in recent years in the construction sector and they are concrete, timber (wood), steel
and glass.
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2.2.1 Concrete
Concrete; worlds most widely used

construction material has many purposes
and the ability to modify its properties such
as strength, durability, economy, water
tightness and abrasion resistance is key to
its popularity. Concrete researchers have
found that by mixing recycled materials into
it can help minimise the consumption of
natural aggregate and also solve the
problem of waste management. (Jackson &
Dhir, 1996). They also have good thermal
properties slowing the passage of heat
moving from walls and floor therefore
Figure 1: Concrete mix. Source: Unicorn Ready mix (2013) reducing the energy within the building
which benefits the environment.
Concrete is used for many purposes in the construction industry; widely used for foundations
and structural walls due to its high strength.
Material Fossil Fuel Energy (MJ/kg) Fossil Fuel Energy (MJ/m3)

Rough Sawn timber 1.5 750
Steel 35 266,000
Concrete 2 4,800
Aluminium 435 1,100,000
Figure 2: Comparison of energy required to produce material. Source:Tasmian Timber (2006)
As it can be seen from figure 2, concrete requires 4800 MJ/m3 of energy to manufacture which
is significantly lower than steel but quite higher than timber. This shows the amount of impact on
the environment.
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Material Carbon released (kg/t) Carbon released Carbon stored

(kg/m3) (kg/m3)
Rough Sawn timber 30 15 250
Steel 700 5,320 0
Concrete 50 120 0
Aluminium 8,700 22,000 0
Figure 3: Comparison of amount of carbon stored in materials. Source: Tasmian Timber (2006)
Figure 3 shows the amount of carbon dioxide released is significantly lower than steel and
aluminium however timber still has a lower amount. Also like steel, concrete is unable to store
carbon from the atmosphere unlike timber.
(i) Uses of Concrete
Concrete is a versatile material and can therefore be used in buildings, bridges, dams,
tunnels and many more. It is less costly compared to other materials and is compact and
non-porous therefore does not attract mould or lose its key properties over time.
(ii) Issues affecting sustainable concrete
For the final product to be completed, just like other materials, concrete needs to be
transported to site mainly in the forms of lorries. As they are sourced from around
quarries, raw materials need to be crushed and transported around the site to be
produced which creates a large amount of pollution from petrol and diesel fumes.
(iii) Regulations in place to control sustainable concrete
Concrete industry was the first to link its sustainable construction and show its
responsible sources through BES 6001. BES 6001 is a BRE standard that has been
published to facilitate consumers and manufacturers to be able to trace that the product
has been sourced responsibly with constituent materials. As concrete is locally sourced,
monitoring its supply chain and ensuring it follows regulations and standard benchmarks
is straightforward.
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2.2.2 Timber
Wood has universal appeal as it is generally
pleasant in appearance and can be extremely
beautiful if properly cut and finished. Being
known as the most sustainable building
material known to man, wood is a natural
organic material excellent material used for
dwellings where feelings of comfort and well-
being are especially desired. (Marotta, 2005) Figure 4: Timber log stacks. Source: Leaper (2015)
According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the wood industry is valued at over 7.6
billion placing the industry in fifth place in the list of major industries in the UK. Within the UK,
there are 3.1 million hectares of land covered by woodland however only 1.4 million (44%) are
certified as sustainably managed. (Forestry Commission, 2012) The Forestry Commission has
also stated that around 85% of 50 million cubic metres of timber, paper, boards and other wood
products being used in UK has to be imported for not being self-sufficient in timber resources.
Timber, a worldwide used material accounts for 60% of consumption by the construction
industry in the UK. Timber being the only product that stores atmospheric pressure carbon
dioxide, it requires the lowest production energy out of all the major building materials currently
used.
As it can be clearly seen from Figure 2, timber only requires 1.5 MJ/kg to manufacture whilst
comparing aluminium requires 435 MJ/kg of fossil fuel energy. This evidently portrays the
environmental benefit timber offers.
As well as timber requiring the least amount of energy to produce, the material also has the
benefit to store carbon dioxide which gives timber a unique selling point. Timber can store up to
250 kg/m3 whereas no other material is capable to do so as seen in Figure 3.
(i) Uses of Timber
Timber as a material is used widely in the UK; however the main consumer of timber is
within the construction industry. Within the construction industry, timber can be used for
many different purposes like frame works, roof trusses and floor trusses. Traditionally
timber was mainly used for decor by cladding them together.
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As it can be seen from figure 5, the construction industry has a very big part in utilisation
of timber in the UK. When the recession hit the market in 2007-2008 and again in 2012,
the consumption of softwood timber came to decline as well proving a direct correlation
among them.
Figure 5: Sawn Softwood Utilisation Trends in main markets in the UK, 2002-2013.
Source: Moore (2014)
(ii) Issues affecting sustainable timber
According to the NBS, worldwide only 25% of the worlds productive forests are certified
as sustainable. One of the most important and indirect effect in working out the true
sustainable value of timber is timber transportation. In the UK, around 350,000 lorry
loads of sustainably grown wood are transported out of the forest. Road transport is the
single most important means of timber transport in Britain and over 90% of all timber is
delivered to processing plants by lorry (Timber Transport Forum, 2012). The
transportation of timber by lorries creates a significant amount of pollution from petrol
and diesel adding to the greenhouse gases causing further damage to the environment.
However in contrast to other materials timber does have the capability to store carbon
dioxide.
Illegal logging is another concern to the environment and is caused when there is a huge
demand for timber that results in removal of too many trees rapidly, resulting in an
unsustainable forest management. It is then further encouraged by the consumers of
illegal timber and is yet a threat to the environment even with the introduction of great
measures to reduce the amount of illegal timber entering the market. Approximately 16-
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19% of timber imported in the European Union is sourced from illegal or suspicious
sources, showing the challenges which lay ahead to deal with the importation of illegal
timber. (WWF, 2010)
(iii) Regulations in place to control sustainable timber
UK is one of Europes largest importers of wood and wood-based products and every
year around 72% of the 11Mm3 of sawn wood material comes from abroad. Trees
absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and store carbon in their stems and branches reducing
the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which contributes to climate change.
Hence encouraging local businesses to take part in growing the forest industry will
create more carbon storage capacity. To maximise the full advantage of carbon storage,
using local timber would avoid the usage of excessive carbon emissions from
transportation.
For instance, the large timber resource in North Scotland strides upon delivering low-
carbon development therefore resulting in a sustainable construction. The Edinburgh
Centre for Carbon Management (ECCM) estimated emissions from transport of timber to
following locations to Scotland by lorry. (Dean, Susan;, 2010)
Sweden to Scotland = 5.4 times more CO2 emissions

Latvia to Scotland =18 times more CO2 emissions
Canada to Scotland =19 times more CO2 emissions
The government has introduced a wide range of regulations to control the trading of
illegal timber and to promote the use of sustainable timber. One of them is the UK
Government timber Procurement Policy, which requires all timber and wood derived
products to be from independent verifiable legal and sustainable sources. The policy
requires two pieces of evidence, the chain of custody which starts from the forest of
origin to the final user, which allows for supplied timber to be traced back to its origin.
The second evidence required is the proof that the timber has been extracted legally and
that the forest is sustainable managed. (CPET, 2013)
The EU Timber Regulation is a legislation ensuring that all EU countries are

implementing sufficient measures to eliminate illegal timber. The regulation as a whole
focuses on outlining the importance of knowing the origins of timber before processing it
to the consumers and failing to do so can result to severe penalties. The regulation
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consists of information, where information of the product, supplier, origin of country and
applicable forestry legislation are covered. The next step is the risk assessment, where
indicators will be put to specify a high risk and low risk of illegal timber harvesting. The
final step of the regulation is the risk mitigation procedure and it involves actions that are
taken on products to indicate high risk.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of
Forest Certification (PEFC) are certificate schemes operating around the world
promoting the use of sustainable timber. These systems allow consumers to easily
identify timber products that have been sourced from a legal and sustainably managed
forest.
2.2.3 Steel
Described as one of the most important metals to
be used in the construction industry and can be
used for various purposes due to their strength and
high degree of reliability. It is made by oxidising pig
iron in a furnace at about 3000F. Steel is also
viewed as a sustainable material as it can be 100%
recyclable without its properties or the materials
performance being affected. (Ahmed, 2011)
Figure 6: Stainless steel. Source: Thomasnet (2015)
Although steel has many substantial benefits, it is not quite good to the environment as shown
in Figure 2. Steel requires 266,000 MJ/m3 energy to produce which is 265,250 MJ/m3 more
energy than what timber requires. Also seen in Figure 3, steel cannot store any carbon
emissions from the environment unlike timber.
(i) Uses of Steel
More than half of the worlds steel produced is used in construction; the largest area of
application is for rebars in concrete. As concrete is strong in compression and weak in
tension, so the addition of steel in concrete to reinforce improves the overall
performance. In the UK most of the tall buildings are made using steel frames so the
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country as a whole uses a high volume of steel sections however for other European
countries currently prefer reinforced concrete construction. (UK Indemand, n.d.)
(ii) Issues affecting sustainable steel
Steel, also a construction material needs to be transported from places using lorries.
Tata which is one of UKs main steel companies stated that An 18 month trial run, using
three multipurpose trailers, yielded a total mileage of 233,000 miles. (Tata Sons, 2012)
This shows that the amount of carbon emissions that is being released into the
environment by just three multipurpose trailers is very dramatic.
(iii) Regulations in place to control sustainable steel
Construction sector in the UK has a major role to play to achieve the set target of zero
carbon emission in all new buildings by 2016 and non-domestic buildings by 2019. The
European Union Emissions Trading System also known as the EU ETS is a
European policy to combat climate change and the scheme includes the production of all
metals. The system runs on a cap and trade system where a company or business has a
certain set emission allowance. The credit is then used to cover each years emission
levels and fines are imposed if allowance levels are exceeded. The policy does allow
flexibility as extra emission allowances can be saved for future needs or even sold to
other companies that are short in allowances. The act of putting a price on carbon gives
financial value to each tonne of emissions saved, meaning a high carbon price promotes
investment in clean, low technologies.
Figure 7: Actual emissions for EU-15. Source: European Commission

(2013)
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As it can be seen from figure 2, the total GHG emissions under the Kyoto protocol in the
EU-15 were 14.9% below base year levels. The EU-15 is therefore not only able to
achieve its Kyoto target for the first commencement period from 2008/1, but also
overachieve it. (European Commission, 2013)
2.2.4 Glass
Glass, a sustainable and fully recyclable
material has several benefits to the
environment as the material is fully
recyclable. As glass can be used to
manage the changes in temperature, many
precious natural resources can be saved
by substituting glass. Glass is made up of
natural raw material like sand and glass
waste (cullets). Cullets melt at a lower
temperature than other raw materials Figure 8: SD Polymer building. Source: Chanzhou (2007)
consequently saving energy for the melting
process. It is also used to help save energy from insulating glass for windows to weight-
lightening reinforcement glass fibre used in automotive and aviation. The reinforcement glass
fibre is also largely used to generate renewable energy through solar thermal and wind turbines.
(i) Uses of Glass
As mentioned, glass is fully recyclable as it can be recycled in close loop over and over
again and as the most recent modern material, it is widely used in many high rise
buildings and construction sites. Glass in the construction sector is largely used to glaze
areas due to its energy saving properties but also because they provide natural light into
building enhancing the living conditions. Based on a study, glass in buildings has proved
to improve ones well-being and health conditions. (Glass Alliance Europe, 2013)
(ii) Issues affecting sustainable glass
Unlike other materials, glass waste is immediately recycled and put into furnaces, so
there is a very few amount of solid waste discarded. To make sure that the material we
use does not affect people or the environment, sourcing the materials has been a very
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important step in the construction sector. In India about 20% of workers were found to be
children aged 6 or under in a visit to a stone quarry.
As there are a few glass factories in the UK, the need to transport the material from one
place to another is a must and this uses lorries. Lorries give out fumes and gases from
burning out of diesel and petrol, adding to the greenhouse effect.
(iii) Regulations in place to control sustainable glass
As the government applies pressure over construction companies about responsible

sourcing, the glass manufacturing sector has been forced to demonstrate the use of
good practice on major raw materials. The two standards that cover responsible
sourcing of construction materials are BES 6001 by the Buildings Research
Establishment (BRE) and BS: 8902 by British Standards Institute (BSI). They are
widely used around the world to make sure that raw material providers are using the
correct practices to make sure no harm is done to the people and environment.
The policy of The EU ETS also covers glass as a material to cap the amount of
emissions released during glass production. It gives an opportunity to be able to sell or
buy credits for when the emission allowance is maxed out.
2.3 Waste
In simple terms, waste is rubbish or garbage that is unwanted and undesired which can be
found in the form of solid, liquid or gas. According to the European Directives 2008/98/EC,
waste is any substance the holder discards, intends to discard or is required to discard under
the Waste Framework Directive.
In the UK there are different types of waste generated, construction being the sector that
produces the largest amount. In 2012, the construction sector produced about 100 million
tonnes of waste while household waste was around 25 million tonne. (Department for
Environment Food & Rural Affairs, 2015)
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Figure 9: Waste arising by sector. Source: Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (2015)
The traditional approach to handling waste product has been to send to landfill or incineration,
which we now know is harmful for the environment. According to (defra, 2011), there were over
1,250,000 fly tipping accidents in England in 2007/08 while in 2013/14 it has significantly gone
down to around 852,000 accidents. This could be due to an increase in awareness of cutting
down on CO2 emissions.
Figure 10: Number of Fly tipping accidents, England, 2007/08-2013/14. Source: Department
for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (2015)
Figure 11 portrays how local authority in England has handled waste management in the recent
years. In the year 2013/14 around 25.6 million tonnes of waste was recorded and about 7
million tonnes of waste was sent to landfill, 6.5 million tonne to incineration with EfW, 10.7
million tonne was recycled and the remaining 1.4 million tonne were handled in other ways.
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Figure 11: Local authority collected waste management, England, 2000/01-2013/14. Source:
Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (2015)
2.4 Sustainability
Sustainability is based on a simple principle that everything we need for survival and well-being
depends either directly or indirectly on our natural environment. Sustainability maintains and
creates the conditions under which humans and nature can coexist in harmony whilst fulfilling
the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations. (EPA, n.d.)
Sustainability in the modern age can be used to describe different approached towards
improving life. The main aspect of sustainability is to work towards minimising the impacts of
harmful gases consumption such as carbon dioxide which has a 86% impact on the climate;
methane which has a 7% impact; nitrous oxide having a 6% impact and refrigerant gases
accounting for 1% of the impact to the climate, at the same time ensuring we are not
endangering the generations of tomorrow. (Berners & Clark, 2010)
Buildings are far the greatest producers of harmful gases such as CO 2 and this can only
increase with the large population growth predicted to occur by 2050 . The construction
industry in the UK accounts for around half of the UKs carbon dioxide consumption, with 45% of
the energy generated used to power and maintain buildings as well as a further 5% used to
construct the buildings. This represents the significant amount of improvement required from the
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construction industry in regards to new homes as well as existing building upgrades. (CIOB,
2012)
Having realised the potential long term effects which the greenhouse gases could possibly have
on the environment, many targets were introduced and set by the government. One of the
ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets is to reduce the UKs greenhouse gas emissions by
at least 80% by 2050. (Gov.co.uk, 2013) Another of the governments initiative is for the
construction industry to achieve zero net carbon emissions in all non-domestic new builds by
2019, new school to be emission free by 2016 and public buildings by 2018. (Bsria, 2009)
2.5 Waste Management Hierarchy
According to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, also known as defra,
the Waste Management Hierarchy ranks waste management options according to what is best
for the environment as it prioritises preventing waste materials in the first place. This includes
using fewer materials in design and manufacture therefore keeping products for longer use. The
next stage would be recycling, which is the most efficient way to handle waste as it is about
returning a used product to a reusable state again. Furthermore, the waste product also goes
through other recovery methods like anaerobic digestion, incineration with energy recovery and
gasification and pyrolysis which produce energy. Finally and the least preferred method of all is
the disposal stage, where waste materials are sent to landfill and incineration without energy rec
(defra, 2011) overy.
Figure 12: Waste Hierarchy. Source: defra (2011)
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2.5.1 Prevention
As the most important step in the reduction of waste volume, it is critical to realise the
significance of using less materials to fulfil a task. However with the growth of the population,
there is an increase in the need for production of materials to build homes, schools and facilities
hence, it is becoming quite hard to control the quantity of materials.
WRAP, Waste and Resources Action Programme is a registered charity and company which
estimated that in the UK about 4.7 million tonnes of wood waste were generated in 2008/09;
2.31 million tonnes mainly from construction and demolition activities and 1.16 million tonnes
from packaging industry. To prevent timber waste, they have suggested to retain and use items
for longer, sell or donate unwanted items and identify ways to reduce demand for wood for
example by light weighting products whilst ensuring that the product characteristics are not
affected hence bringing product and cost benefits. As glass waste is immediately recycled and
put into the furnace, there is little or no waste produced but preventing the use of 1 tonne of
virgin glass could avoid over 800 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent being emitted. As steel does
not lose any properties after recycling, businesses can re-use intermediate bulk packaging
rather than sending it for disposal. Steel also does require significant quantities of energy and
raw materials in the extraction and manufacture.
2.5.2 Recycling
The second step in the Waste Management Hierarchy is to identify materials that could be
reused without any processing and for materials that cannot be reused; they are reprocessed
into products and materials to achieve their original purpose and must also meet the Quality
Protocol Standards. As the amount of natural resources plummet, recycling is the only process
that can reduce the need to extract limited raw materials, so they can be reserved for future
generations. Recycling reduces waste volume lowering costs of collection and transportation
which in return shrinks the level of pollution and diseases associated with CO 2 levels. As the
population grows, the lack of suitable land for waste disposal is imminent. So recycling waste
products and reducing its volume gives the land potential for accepting waste materials.
(i) Concrete
In the previous years, concrete rubble was seen as a waste product and therefore used to head
to the landfill for disposal. However, in recent years they are being used as dry aggregate and
sub base gravel which involves the use of simple and well established crushing techniques. The
16
essential uses of crushed concrete and brick include all-weather applications such as low grade
roads and pavement sub bases instead of virgin crushed rocks. Recycled crushed concrete
have stronger physical properties as they offer an additional 10 to 15% product volume with the
same product weight.
As the high landfill fees exist, the strong reason to avoid weight based disposal charges help
recover the waste products from the construction sector to keep construction costs down.
(ii) Timber
The idea of timber recycling came in the times of climate change in the 1900s and was quickly
labelled as the environmentally friendliest material. Salvaging timber from demolished buildings
to be used again in flooring, decking and roofs are widely done. However for timber that cannot
be recovered, they are chipped down into wood chips which can be used to power homes or
power plants. Usually timber that has been recovered are retrieved from the demolition sector
however, there is a lower market demand for recovered timber in comparison to other
construction waste materials.
(iii) Steel
Construction is the largest sector to use steel. This versatility promotes recycling since steel
scraps can be blended, through the recycling process to produce different types of steel
(different grades and products). About 90% of metals recovered from the construction and
demolition sector comes from commercial demolition sites, where 95% is steel which can be
easily recovered using inexpensive magnets and remaining 5% are non-ferrous metals.
Every new steel that is made, has scrap steel blended in as an essential ingredient so every
steel making plant is a recycling plant. As the global demand for steel increases, even with
recovery and recycling of scrap steel it only accounts up to one third of total steel demand. So,
in the near future, production of steel will have to be done from virgin resources therefore it is
very important to ensure that recovery and recycling are designed to all steel applications and
that every piece of steel is processed and recycled. According to Tata, when a building is
demolished in the UK, about 94% of steel is recycled of which 99% of structural steel is recycled
or re-used. (Tata Steel, 2015)
(iv) Glass
Recently recycled glass has been used as aggregate in concrete, showing better long term
strength and thermal insulation due to its thermal properties. In 2008, over 2.6 million tonnes of
17
glass packaging were used in the UK, 61% of which was recycled. A figure from the British
Glass in 2006 has estimated that up to 500,000 tonnes of flat glass waste were produced from
buildings each year in the UK and of this, just under half was recycled. Recycled glass can be
exported to be used in glass manufacturing abroad and the CO2 savings are 290Kg CO2/tonne.
Figure 13: End of Life Scenarios. Source: Steel construction (2015)
Figure 13 shows the life cycle of construction materials; concrete, timber and steel, where 93%
of steel, 20% of concrete and 13% of timber is recycled. Most of the concrete waste are down
cycled, which means is crushed and used for sub-base or fill rather than re-use as there are
strict rules and regulations set by government on the maximum percentage of material allowed.
As seen in figure above, mostly timber waste are headed to landfill due to contamination in the
waste stream, however the timber industry does have a lot of pressure form the government to
reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfill. For steel however, it can be easily retrieved
using a magnet or cheaper alternatives therefore typical recycling rates are higher in steel
recycling.
2.5.3 Recovery /Treatment

Materials that cannot be reused and recycled are subject to destruction with appropriate
treatment methods. Hazardous waste materials in this stage are treated from any harmful or
toxic substances that could harm human health or the environment immediately or over time.
They are then sent to an authorised landfill site which can accept hazardous waste materials to
treat. The alternative is to treat the waste material to meet the standards set by a landfill sites
18
waste acceptance criteria (WAC) and then sent to a normal landfill site. The definition of
treatment according to WAC includes physical, thermal, chemical or biological processes that
could reduce the volume of the waste material, decrease its hazardous nature so it can be
easily handled to recover. (Steel Construction, 2015)
(defra, 2011) has estimated a total amount of hazardous waste to be 3% in 2008, around 4.8
million tonnes which is significantly lower than other types of waste. However it can cause a
greater harm to the environment if not handled properly, so the government is working with the
Environment Agency to reduce the amount and level of hazard of this type of waste.
2.5.4 Disposal
It is believed that waste materials can be reduced at every phases of a task but the earliest
stages of the outline design and appraisal are significantly best chances to do so. Therefore it is
important to have set targets on waste outcomes as well as prioritising opportunities to reduce
waste. Due to the changes within the construction sector, the UK government has applied some
pressure on waste reduction during construction stages for a sustainable development.
However for materials that could not be reduced or recycled, are sent to the disposals to get rid
of and one of the option is when waste is taken to a landfill to prevent odour, litter and pest
infections. This process does produce gases due to decomposition of the waste, mainly a mix of
carbon dioxide and methane; however they are being burned off to be used in an on-site energy
generation plant.
Landfills are the oldest form of waste treatment whereby waste materials are literally dumped
into land. However when an area of landfill reaches full capacity, the landfill are engineered to
be covered by a cap such as clay and restored using soils so that the site can be used again in
the future for agriculture, facilities or nature conservation. The process of landfilling in the UK
has to meet the European Landfill Directive and Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme.
The Landfill Directive also known as the Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 is a EU
directive which aims to prevent or reduce as far as possible negative effects on the
environment, in particular the pollution of surface water, groundwater, soil and air, and on the
global environment, including the greenhouse effect, as well as any resulting risk to human
health, from the landfilling of waste, during the whole life cycle of the landfill. The directive took
the initiative to allocate the waste into categories; landfill for hazardous waste, non-hazardous
waste and inert waste and by doing so, preventing and reducing the adverse effects of the
19
landfill of waste on the environment. The 2019/20 target EU Directive has set is to reduce
landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste to 35% of 1995 levels.
The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) is a scheme planned to reduce the amount
of biodegradable municipal (BMW) waste that is being sent to landfill. The amount of BMW
allowed to be landfilled in the UK is divided between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland and each have separate regulations to make it work, as failing to meet the targets can
result in fines. LATS in England are fined 150 per tonne if the landfill is more than the allocated
amount as the environment agency monitors the amount of BMW sent to landfill every year.
(Friends of the Earth, 2007)
The other not so popular option in disposal is incineration which involves the burning of organic
substances in waste material to recover energy. The process of incineration includes converting
waste materials into IBM gases, heat and particles, which later on are being used to produce
electricity. As land becomes scarce, countries like Japan, Denmark and Sweden opt out for
incineration. In 2005, it is estimated that electricity that been used in Denmark, about 4.8 %
was produced by incineration and 13.7% of total was used to produce heat. It is believed that
incineration reduces the mass of the waste by 95 to 96%. They are the easiest yet hazardous
method as it causes emissions which pollute the air, water and soil. (Waste Management
Resources, 2009)
2.6 Chapter Summary
The literature review in general has tried to cover areas to show the essence of sustainability in
materials. Recognising the development of materials throughout history enables us to realise
the importance to protect and better them through new technologies.
This report presented types of materials that are currently used in a wide range in construction
sector to compare them and also looked at issues that were affecting sustainable build. A
review on the current UK and EU legislations were done on sustainability affecting the materials.
The chapter begins by discussing each type of material, its uses, issues affecting sustainability
and current regulations that were introduced to tackle the problems that affect sustainability. All
the materials chosen for the report are recyclable like concrete, timber, steel and glass. The
main issue affecting sustainability in almost all materials was transportation via lorries which add
carbon emissions to the environment. The availability of local sourced materials could keep the
20
transportation to a minimum such as concrete and steel in the UK, however timber and glass
are materials that are usually sourced from abroad.
The chapter further discusses waste and waste management system currently implemented in
the UK. It included the waste hierarchy from defra that shows how waste should be handled,
preventing using a lot of material being the first step and disposal of the material being the last
step to the hierarchy.
21
Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Research
In this chapter, data will be collected for the purpose of analysis to clarify the project. The
research could include both primary methods like questionnaires and secondary methods
providing theoretical data.
3.2 Case Studies
This type of research mainly focuses on desk study and looking for case studies similar to the
subject. It also includes the use of reports, journals, newspapers, books and internet therefore
the information that can be researched is very wide. However there are limitations to this
research as the information may be inaccurate as everybody has the right to post information
and hence lack genuineness.
Case studies are a form of research and contains an in depth information about an event
suffered by a company. It also covers topics of the company to better understand the reason
behind the event. Looking at the past events can help one understand and analyse the situation.
22
3.2.1 Case Study 1: Tennessee NFL Stadium

Recycling Consultant
Wilmot & Associates
Project Details
A redevelopment project to build a 67,000 seat, open air, state-of-the-art NFL stadium on an
area occupied by old warehouses, light industrial facilities and small businesses in Nashville,
Tennessee, U.S.A. Most of the structures there had concrete foundations, retaining walls,
masonry load-bearing exterior walls and steel roof structures.
Waste Minimisation Measures Highlights
Design for reuse
Materials found from buildings before demolition were salvaged to maximise recovery and to
develop specification for the use of recycled products in new buildings. The materials in site
were managed to be controlled properly to create immediate need for the processed materials
and therefore test and certify recycled demolition materials to ensure high standards and
performance. Materials were then allocated areas to be stored and processed to maximise
material recycling. Materials such as concrete, bricks and blocks were crushed on-site for
structural fill. For further help on site, staffs were fully encouraged to recycle materials and were
educated on the benefits of recycling.
Outcomes
US$421,000 hauling costs and dump fees saved by recycling

US$508,000 saved by not purchasing crushed stone as raw material
A salvage revenue of US$120,000
Gained a great deal of news exposure and positive recognition both locally and
nationally (Anon., 2009)
23
3.2.2 Case Study 2: Shavings into Savings

SPB Moulds, a mould making factory that produces steel casting and supplies started using the
wood waste to produce briquettes to bring additional revenue to the company. As the company
located in Stoke on Trent were looking forward to move into a bigger facility, the MD of SPB
Moulds said that they hated the thought of having to pay for heating and thus looked into using
what wood waste heater were.
With a recommendation the company bought a WT5 45kw (150,000 btu/hr) which produced
enough heating for the 4000 square foot workshop and its twelve staff. In the summer months,
SPB Moulds collect extra wood and stockpile all briquettes to help with the supply when
demand is high in winter.
Figure 14: Wood shavings. Source: Wood Waste Technology (2012)
Outcomes
No bills on heating
About 200 monthly saved on skip charges
The company is environmentally friendly thus bringing new customers and positive
reviews.
Additional 15,000 of revenue from producing around 700 to 800 briquettes a week
Extra wood is obtained from other businesses and locally in no charge. (Wood Waste
Technology, 2012)
24
3.2.3 Case Study 3: Rumpke Recycling

Established in October 2011, Rumpke Recycling recovers broken and mixed glasses of any
colour from both residential and commercial establishments. Since the opening, the plant in
Dayton, Ohio has recovered about 20,000 tons of glass which was then sorted by colour and
size of the glass bottle. The glass was then finely ground to be used to manufacture fibreglass
insulation. To improve its standing, Rumpke invested $4 million and obtained a $500,000 Ohio
Department of Natural Resources to install new machinery to improve the facilitys processing
capability.
Figure 15: Finely ground glass. Source: Cullin, Sara (2013)
Outcomes
Rumpke has both train and road ways of transport covered therefore it opens up more
market.
Cost effective and economical due to the high tech scanning machinery. (Cullin, Sara,
2013)
3.2.4 Case Study 4: The Lackenby open hearth steel plant
The Lackenby open hearth steel plant was built in 1953 and was over 330 metres long, 39 m
high, 70 m wide while weighing 20,000 tonnes of structural steelwork. It was opened in 1956 by
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and produced large volumes of column-free spaces and was in
use for over twenty years. The building had been constructed using welded and riveted joints
and not bolted and mainly the building had a lack of safe access and was designed using non-
standard sections, so when the plant was put for demolition all scrap steel were scraped out of
the plant and recycled back into the furnaces on site.
25
Figure 16: Demolition of the Lackenby plant. Source: Corus Construction & Industrial (2006)
Along with steel, other building materials were also retrieved from the demolition site such as
copper cabling and zinc. 100% of steel retrieved from site was recycled and the process of
recycling steel from the Lackenby plant managed to save sufficient energy to supply about 3700
residential houses for a year.
Outcomes
New steel was manufactured as sections, plates and strip to be used in a wide range of
new products.
Structural steel sections were used in the construction of Heathrow Terminal 5.
Steel plates were used in buildings over Paddington. (Corus Construction & Industrial,
2006)
3.3 Chapter Summary
This chapter looked at different approaches on waste management, in case study 1, the
Tennessee stadium portrayed how reusing and recycling demolished materials helped save
thousands of US dollars. They also used salvaged materials in the process to help make
savings to the company Case study 4 also shows the use of recycling of material; steel which
was stored and used in the future to in construction of Heathrow terminal 5 and Paddington. .
Case studies 2 and 3 are about re-using the material again in another aspect of construction. In
case study 2, SPB Moulds used woodchips to produce heating system for the company which
made it possible for them to pay nothing for heating. In case study 3, Rumpky Recycling uses
different types of glass waste to crush it and manufacture fiberglass insulation.
26
Chapter 4: Discussion
The report has discussed the importance of sustainability in the present time and active
regulations and measures taken to establish sustainability in construction practices in different
stages of the project. It includes responsible sourcing, substituting primary materials with
recycled materials, effective transportation, waste management hierarchy and so on.
One of the major challenges faced in construction today is NOT being able to use recycled
materials in line with principles of sustainable development that have the same impact as virgin
raw materials. Recycling materials not only help to reduce unnecessary landfill of waste
materials but also help in reducing carbon footprint.
The long life of concrete structures enables minimum material impacts on the environment.
Recycling concrete can help minimise exploitation of natural resources and the associated
transportation costs, emissions and reduction of waste landfill. However, there is a little impact
on greenhouse gas emissions as most emissions occur when cement is being produced and
cement alone cannot be recycled. As concrete cannot be reused nor recycled back into its
original form, the term recycling in concrete means to be able to use it as a new product and
saving it from going to waste. (World Business Council for Sustainable Developement, 2015)
Timber, namely the environment friendliest material, requires minimum effort to process it.
Unlike most waste materials, timber can be simply salvaged and used as furniture and joinery.
However, for materials that are the by-product whilst producing sawn timber, they are recycled
into woodchips and sawdust which is never wasted and has an economic use for all the timber
logs. With timber, the transport of raw and processed materials consumes a significant amount
of energy as they do require a mode of transportation in the form of Lorries. Another concern
comes with illegal logging of timber, when timber is cut without the right permits and is
smuggled away without the payment of duties and taxes. This has created a threat to the
environment and the people living in the forest as they rely solely on timber production for their
livelihood. To eliminate all possible ways, World Wild Fund (WWF) has launched new UK
forests campaign for EU to ensure that there is a level playing field for all businesses engaged
in responsible forest trade and that there are no easy routes for illegal timber into Europe by
2020. (Jeffree, 2015)
Steel, unlike other materials can be reprocessed over and over again into the same material.
Steel production using raw materials result in emissions such as carbon dioxide, sulphur oxides
27
and nitrogen oxides. Key raw materials needed to produce steel are converted to products and
by-products, meaning very little goes to waste, however the industrys goal is zero waste. The
by-products of steel can be recycled during steelmaking; preventing landfill waste and helps
preserve natural resources by reducing CO2 emissions. To make sure that steel is
manufactured more sustainably, using advanced technologies to recycle and reuse water from
steel plants is one of the most crucial parts. This is because steel production uses water
throughout the process for cooling and heat processing equipment. (Zhang & Basson, 2015)
The technological advances in glass products have led to minimal environmental impacts
making it a sustainable building material. Glass naturally is made up of non-polluting raw
materials, requires low levels of water and generates little waste as well. The vast majority of
recyclable glass materials contribute to an even lower environmental impact as glass waste
helps to economise both raw materials and energy in manufacturing new glass products. (Glass
for Europe, 2015)
In the current market, as prices of extracting raw materials are cheaper than using a recycled
material, there is very little to no difference between using recycled material and raw materials
for construction. However, if regulations were to be put in place that required the use of recycled
materials, it could increase the use of recycled products. It could be used with the aim of
improving environmental conditions that could result in reducing costs for manufacturers and
also decrease the length of return on investment period. For instance in Iran, due to lower prices
of raw materials, recycled materials are not favoured in construction. No measure has been
taken in regards to the increase of price resulting from the use of recycled material compared
with current production trend (100 to 200 IRR per kg). However, as the prices for melting raw
materials increase the cost-effectiveness of using recycled materials can be observed.
(Sadraie, et al., 2014)
28
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Materials are a choice of life as it determines the life span of the building and so understanding
knowledge about construction is vital in modern times. A structure mainly depends on the type
of material chosen and depending on the material, the life cycle of the structure is predicted.
However even after demolition, the materials could still be used to revive the structure by
recycling the supposed waste material.
Recycled material generally are not seen in a positive light as consumers still have problems
with adapting to the idea of using recycled products. The government also has not shown
sufficient interest to help increase awareness in the use and cause of using recycled products.
The fact that raw materials can be sourced cheaper than recycled material also does not help.
Different materials have different ways to be handled to sustain recycling so government should
establish a document to cover all ways to handle recycling of waste materials. This would help
private companies to reach a certain level of professionalism.
To counteract these claims, increasing customer awareness is very crucial. As on case study 2:
NSP Moulds uses wood chips to heat their factory. This is very environmental friendly as well as
cost effective as this process did not require any expenses in terms of heating and also helped
them earn a name in the local community as an eco-friendly company.
Waste materials that were collected from demolition sites could be used for regeneration
purposes like in case study 4, where steel was recycled from the Lackenby steel plant and
further used in Heathrow Terminal 5 and redevelopment project in Paddington. If money was
not an issue, then planning and collecting ideas for the future on use of waste materials could
be the considered for future prospects.
From all the research in the project, there were many pros and cons discussed for all materials;
however timber struck as a material that could be the most sustainable. Timber is a renewable
resource which helps reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere and produces less pollution in
comparison to other materials. Timber produces very nominal waste, about 20- 40% less than
other construction materials; is about 30% faster to build than other methods like brick and block
resulting in less disruption to the local community. (Eco-frames systems, 2015) Unlike concrete,
steel and glass, timber has an ability to remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere that is
beneficial to the environment.
29
There were negative factors that affected sustainable timber such as transportation of materials,
resourcing of material and illegal logging. Another main factor associated of using timber is
chemically treated timber as it turns into toxic product.
Topic for further research could be the analysis of cost estimation of each material required for it
to be fully sustainable. As this report was solely based on secondary research, further research
through primary research such as interviews and questionnaires would improve the overall
report.
30
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Figure 1: Concrete mix. Source: Unicorn Ready mix (2013) ....................................................... 4

How sustainable can a recycled waste material be?

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Concrete; worlds most widely used

Material Fossil Fuel Energy (MJ/kg) Fossil Fuel Energy (MJ/m3)

Material Carbon released (kg/t) Carbon released Carbon stored

(i) Uses of Concrete

(ii) Issues affecting sustainable concrete

(iii) Regulations in place to control sustainable concrete

(i) Uses of Timber

(ii) Issues affecting sustainable timber

(iii) Regulations in place to control sustainable timber

Sweden to Scotland = 5.4 times more CO2 emissions

The EU Timber Regulation is a legislation ensuring that all EU countries are

Figure 6: Stainless steel. Source: Thomasnet (2015)

(i) Uses of Steel

(ii) Issues affecting sustainable steel

(iii) Regulations in place to control sustainable steel

Figure 7: Actual emissions for EU-15. Source: European Commission

(i) Uses of Glass

(ii) Issues affecting sustainable glass

(iii) Regulations in place to control sustainable glass

As the government applies pressure over construction companies about responsible

2.5 Waste Management Hierarchy

Figure 12: Waste Hierarchy. Source: defra (2011)

Figure 13: End of Life Scenarios. Source: Steel construction (2015)

2.5.3 Recovery /Treatment

2.6 Chapter Summary

3.2 Case Studies

3.2.1 Case Study 1: Tennessee NFL Stadium

Wilmot & Associates

Waste Minimisation Measures Highlights

Design for reuse

US$421,000 hauling costs and dump fees saved by recycling

3.2.2 Case Study 2: Shavings into Savings

Figure 14: Wood shavings. Source: Wood Waste Technology (2012)

3.2.3 Case Study 3: Rumpke Recycling

Figure 15: Finely ground glass. Source: Cullin, Sara (2013)

3.2.4 Case Study 4: The Lackenby open hearth steel plant

3.3 Chapter Summary

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Berners, L. & Clark, M., 2010. What is a carbon footprint?. [Online]

Bsria, 2009. Zero carbon targets on the construction industry. [Online]

Chanzhou, 2007. Building Field. [Online]

CIOB, 2012. Sustainability and Construction, Berkshire: s.n.

Corus Construction & Industrial, 2006. Steel Recycling. [Online]

CPET, 2013. The UK public procurement policy on timber. [Online]

Dean, Susan;, 2010. Using Local Timber-Contributing to Sustainable Construction. [Online]

defra, 2011. defra.gov.uk. [Online]

EPA, n.d. United States Environmental Protection Agency. [Online]

Forestry Commission, 2012. Forestry Commission-Statistics-Releases-FS 2012 and FFF.

Friends of the Earth, 2007. Landfilling Allowance Trading Scheme. [Online]

Glass Alliance Europe, 2013. Sustainability and the Environment. [Online]

Gov.co.uk, 2013. Reducing the UK's greenhouse gas emmisions. [Online]

Leaper, C., 2015. Timber Log. [Online]

Moore, N., 2014. Timber Utilisation Statistics 2013. [Online]

Steel construction, 2015. Recycling and Reuse. [Online]

Tasmian Timber, 2006. Timber products use less energy. [Online]

Tata Steel, 2015. The life-cycle of steel. [Online]

Thomasnet, 2015. tainless Steel Fabricating Processes. [Online]

UK Indemand, n.d. Steel Use in Construction. [Online]

Unicorn Ready mix, 2013. About us. [Online]

Waste Management Resources, 2009. Incinerators. [Online]