Association to promote the reuse of building materials and components
About this good practice
The building sector represents 2/3 of the waste amount in France. In the French Basque Country, 800,000 tons of construction waste are produced each year. The building sector is critical in this territory, so there is a lot of buyout, renovation or complete deconstruction.
Therefore, this association proposes various activies around the reuse of building materials :
- Deconstruction / dismantling, i.e. the process to carefully and methodically dismantling a material in order to give it a second life by re-injecting it into the circuit for an identical or diverted use.
- The collect, reserved for professionals, aiming to give a second life to construction surpluses, order errors, unsold items...
- A resale activity. The materials resulting from the deconstruction and the collection are put back on sale at fair prices in order to benefit a large public. Each material is reconditioned and referenced to guarantee its traceability.
Resources needed
Two main resources are needed for this king of project:
- Space. To have a local is critical for such projects. Patxa'ma is installed in a local of 500m² (including 300 m² of storage space)
- In 2020, the PATXA’MA "community" has 2 employees and around 10 volunteers
Evidence of success
Some result achieved from 2019:
- 10 members
- 15 dismantling/deconstruction projects
- 95t of materials saved from waste
Potential for learning or transfer
This practice is a good example of how to manage a critical subject in every European regions: the waste from building sector.
It is associated to a more global association, IDRE, which aims to structure a professional network dedicated to this activity. IDRE gathers various professional stakeholders of the territory and such association to promote the reuse of building component can be encourage by public policies.
This practice is inspiring, combining practical activities in dismantling and learning for professional in the building sector