MPA UK Concrete has launched its Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), a strategic, sector-wide circular economy approach and the first for a major structural construction material.

 

The evidence-based plan sets out how the UK concrete sector will support the retention of the value of concrete throughout its lifecycle, build on more than a decade of resource-efficiency progress and work with the wider built environment industry to accelerate a more circular economy.

 

As the UK’s most widely used construction material, concrete has a central role in this transition. The plan calls for collaboration across the built environment – including developers, designers, contractors, demolition specialists, regulators and policymakers – to help remove barriers, improve material recovery and keep concrete in use at its highest value for longer.

 

The CEAP builds on more than 10 years of action by the UK industry since the introduction of Resource Efficiency Action Plans in 2014. That work has helped reduce manufacturing waste sent to landfill to just 0.3kg per tonne of production in 2023, with the sector targeting zero waste to landfill by 2030.

 

The plan also highlights the wider circular contribution made by UK concrete and cement manufacturing. In 2023, 54.1% of fuel used by the cement sector came from waste material, including refuse-derived fuels from non-recyclable household and business waste that would otherwise require disposal.

 

Structured around the lifecycle stages of concrete and concrete products – including manufacturing, transport and logistics, design, construction, demolition and reuse – the CEAP introduces objectives, actions and metrics to help the sector respond to evolving policy and market expectations.

 

For the first time, these metrics include measures covering the proportion of packaging materials supplied that are widely recyclable, the proportion of packaging covered by takeback schemes and the availability of producer support to help customers reduce surplus concrete on site.

 

Andrea Charlson, Head of Sustainability for UK Concrete and The Concrete Centre, said:

 

“Concrete is already central to the UK’s circular economy – not only because it is durable, locally available and recyclable, but because the cement and concrete sector makes productive use of materials that would otherwise become waste. This plan is about turning that existing strength into a clearer framework for action.

 

“The sector has reduced waste sent to landfill to extremely low levels and is now introducing new measures on recyclable packaging, takeback schemes and support to reduce surplus concrete on site. But circularity cannot be delivered by manufacturers alone.

 

“If we are to keep concrete in use at its highest value for longer, we need designers, contractors, demolition specialists, clients, regulators and policymakers to work with us. The biggest gains will come from decisions made across the whole lifecycle — from design and specification through to recovery and reuse.”