In Toulouse, unused building materials will be reused at other sites

Changing the habits of the natural resource-consuming construction industry to reduce its carbon footprint and support a circular economy through the reuse of materials. This is the goal of the European project Life Waste2Build, piloted since 2021 by Toulouse Métropole, which, through public procurement, encourages construction industry participants to recover the materials they have that can be reused at other sites.

After signing a circular economy charter with the project owners in November 2022, the project has just taken a new step by launching a digital platform for construction professionals. It defines materials from deconstruction, surplus or ending stocks that can be transferred or sold for construction projects.

In the past two years, around 58 environmentally exemplary projects have been implemented in the suburbs of Toulouse using this reuse principle. “For example, for the renovation of the roof of the Bellevue High School, 80% of the steel containers were reused at the sites of the agricultural high schools of Pamiers (Ariège) and Vic-en-Bigorre (Hauts-Pyrenees) and with Toulouse developer Oppidéa points to Toulouse Métropole. Nearly 22.7 tons of materials have been reused and salvaged from the trash can, equivalent to the annual production of household waste by 48 residents of Toulouse Metropol. Thanks to this reuse, almost 67,561 euros have been saved.”

By 2026, the Life Waste2Build project aims to recycle 85% of waste from construction sites in metropolitan areas and create 80% of public markets in the Toulouse Métropole area, taking into account the criterion of a circular economy.