The Building Research Establishment is looking for four demolition projects with which it can co-operate to explore how insulation foams are managed during demolition and how their recovery could be increased.
In return for helping BRE, the contactor will get technical, legal and commercial assistance.
The research project is being conducted in co-operation wth the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, and funded through the BRE Trust and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
The project can be any type of building that involves one or more types of building insulation foam. BRE would work with the project team to:
- Identify types and likely amounts of insulation foam arising
- Look at ways of removing and segregating onsite
- Investigate suitable recovery/end markets for types of insulation foam
- Collect data and produce case studies.
Building insulation foams are increasing found in the demolition waste stream and are within many different types of buildings as board products, pipes, panels and within cavities. The foams can be problematic to recover as they can be contaminated with other materials, or bonded to other elements (e.g. sandwich panels) making them difficult to segregate and it may be easier to send them to landfill.
There are also a number of legislative issues including the requirement to recover any ozone-depleting substances from insulation foam (pre 1994) where practicable – these foams should also be treated as hazardous.
A Building Insulation Foam Resource Efficiency Action Plan has recently been developed which includes actions to improve waste management performance across the supply chain including the supply chain.
If you would like to become involved then please contact: Katherine Adams or Stuart Blofeld at the BRE (adamsk@bre.co.uk, blofeld@bre.co.uk).
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