A circular economy aims to minimise the use of virgin raw materials and increase the integration of recycled or renewable materials in the supply chain. For us, it involves a particular focus on increasing the use of recycled material in our product manufacturing process. It also encompasses extending the lifespan of products as well as facilitating their recycling and reuse – designing solutions that can be easily traced and repaired – and increasingly considering how our materials can be deconstructed at the end of a building’s life and reprocessed. It means seeing waste as a resource.

The circular economy requires structure, new business models, and the commitment of stakeholders. It will take a collective effort throughout complex supply and value chains for us to arrive at a truly mature circular economy. 

It is an ongoing challenge to secure additional clean glass cullet volumes for insulation and glass. We have operated circular schemes in the UK & Ireland for many years, collecting customer waste from plasterboard, glass and expanded polystyrene insultation (EPS) for reprocessing into glass, new plasterboard products and insulation.

Our long-term aim is to avoid the production of any non-recoverable waste, and where production waste does occur to make sure it is all re-used – although there remains a few areas where this is not currently possible. We want to work proactively with others in the supply chain and the wider industry – including our customers – to seize all opportunities to sustainably manage our materials, processes and waste management.