Construction reuse and recycle website saves users money, miles and CO2

The website, which allows users can enter their current and future construction projects – detailing what materials they have surplus or need – also claims to have exchanged 156,000 tonnes of construction materials between building companies, saving virgin materials, and saved the construction industry 285,840 miles, 433.5 tonnes of CO2 and £4,215,000.

Using a time-based map, the website identifies where other construction sites are, or where they will be, who is operating there, what and when surplus materials are available and which sites have a surplus or deficit of materials.

Commenting on the statistics Alex Albon, operations director of Earth Exchange Limited, said: "These headline figures are extremely encouraging and we are pleased that Earth Exchange is making a tangible difference to the construction materials reuse issue and is streamlining the sustainable procurement process. We, of course, also have to remember that users of the website are not required to leave feedback, so in all likelihood the amount of materials which have actually been exchanged and cost savings realised with the help of Earth Exchange are considerably more than that presented."

"The construction industry is having a hard time at the moment, but the figures show that users of Earth Exchange® have a definite competitive advantage over those construction and demolition companies which are not using our system. Using Earth Exchange® has the potential to make a real difference to the bottom line of any construction project, as well as improve the key environmental performance indicators for a project."

"As we hopefully start to see a recovery in the construction sector we would expect to see many more housing and commercial developers, their contractors as well as more civil engineering and demolition firms join Earth Exchange® and add to the number of sites on our mapped database".