Zero Waste Scotland

Overview

Zero Waste Scotland’s Construction Team leads on the development and roll-out of the Standard’s approach to embodied carbon and circular principles – set out as Objectives 2 and 4 in the Standard Document Suite.  

The construction sector is the largest consumer of natural resources and the largest contributor to waste in Scotland, accounting for at least 50% of our overall waste.

Current building infrastructure wasn’t designed with the circular economy in mind and was rarely constructed so that at the end of life they can be dismantled and re-used.  A circular approach to construction is all about building with the future in mind, designing-out waste so that:

• Materials specified and used (natural or technical) will have a future purpose beyond the life of the building;
• Buildings are designed to be easily adapted for different future uses without generating waste;
• Building are designed to be easily maintained and repaired without generating waste;
• Buildings are designed to be easily deconstructed so materials can be reused;
• Buildings are designed to reduce over consumption of materials across their whole lifetime to reduce embodied carbon.

If you want to get in touch with Zero Waste Scotland about reducing embodied carbon and applying the circular principles of the Standard, please use this email: circularconstruction@zerowastescotland.org.uk.

For further information about Zero Waste Scotland’s construction support, visit the Construction Waste pages of its website.