Newcastle University

The Challenge

At the point of mobilisation, the building:

• Was fully furnished with the furniture needing to be disposed of sustainably, and much of this furniture contained elements such as melamine strips, which typically render the whole unit of furniture as non-recyclable.
• Due to its age, contained significant quantities of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), which needed to be completely removed before structural demolition could occur.

The Solution

Recycle Central carried out an exceptionally detailed pre-demolition, site assessment and developed a 3D model of the demolition plan prior to mobilisation. This demolition plan was designed to prevent any cross-contamination of recyclable materials by non-recyclable or hazardous materials. 

The first step was to seek re-use opportunities for fittings and furniture before moving onto recycling opportunities. It was necessary to engage additional labour to carefully remove non-recyclable materials from furniture by hand to enable the remaining "clean wood" to be redirected to a recycling partner for processing into recycled timber products.

The building was then stripped of all hazardous materials prior to clearance inspection and certification in readiness for structural demolition. 

As the largely brick and concrete building was brought to the ground, Reycle Central utilised its state-of-the-art crushing machinery to produce recovered aggregates, the majority of which were able to be utilised within the university grounds, removing the need to bring in quarried aggregates.

The Outcome