The sector is trying to organize itself to accelerate the reuse of metals, particularly steel, from industrial buildings.
There is nothing better for the planet than reusing materials instead of extracting more and more sand or iron to produce new concrete or steel. The metal industry is tackling a vast project: develop reuse beams and frames from demolished industrial buildings.
Every civilization has done it since ancient times: the Romans reused the walls of ancient temples in their embankments; medieval builders re-cut Roman stones. All… except ours, because in the industrial age, the materials Cheap ones have become abundant and less and less local.
Furthermore, insurers need standards for materials in order to insure buildings against poor workmanship or bad weather, which is a barrier to reuse, underlines Amor Ben Larbi, research project director at the Centre technique industriel de la construction métal (CTICM), an organization created in 1962 to develop techniques in the sector.
1% reuse of materials from all sectors combined
How can we guarantee that a shed built with reclaimed beams will withstand the storms that are increasing with climate change?
A few rare pioneering operations in France are attempting to demonstrate that it is possible to build something new with something old and to insure it, particularly for industrial buildings, which are mainly constructed from steel.
In Les Herbiers in Vendée, the new factory of the Briand group, specializing in metal construction, uses beams from the former Alstom halls in Nantes. In Épinal in the Vosges, the canopy of a waste sorting center reuses the framework of a horse riding school in Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine).
“This seems like common sense, but there is only 1% reuse of materials across all sectors,” notes Amor Ben Larbi.
Until now, the market has been driven mainly by clients who want to reduce their carbon footprint: for example, “SNCF has a high demand for reused steel for its new constructions,” he illustrates.
A platform for exchanging materials
The Opalis.eu website, created by the Belgian association for the promotion of reuse Rotor, lists companies specialising in the reuse of materials throughout Europe.
Under pressure in particular from the Agec law on the circular economy of February 2020, the metal industry has embarked on a vast project to define new standards for reused products and guarantee their insurability.
In January, it launched its own materials exchange platform called Métal Réemploi for potential hangar builders. It offers a 1,500 square meter frame in Occitanie for 30,000 euros, or an industrial spiral staircase for 13,000 euros. Registration is free for now.
The CTICM also offers an equipped van that will travel throughout the country to help companies wishing to demolish a building to diagnose their reusable materials.
“We are aiming for 10 to 15% of the scrap metal dismantled,” says Amor Ben Larbi. The rest is intended to produce recycled steel.
“Once the proportion of a metal structure that can be reused has been estimated, each beam must be identified, labelled and then a performance certification sheet drawn up for each product,” he explains.
“Increase reuse to lower prices”
“No new building will be built with 100% reuse, what we want is to allow the use of a percentage of reused steel with all the necessary safety guarantees”, underlines Karine Leempoels of the Viry metal construction company, a subsidiary of the builder Fayat.
“You have to be sure that the product has the same qualities as the new one in terms of solidity, durability, resistance.”
The problem is that the cost of careful demolition, allowing reuse, increases the price of metal. For the moment, demolition metal is still “more expensive” than new metal, admits Amor Ben Larbi.
“The idea is to increase reuse, to lower prices, but to be profitable it must remain local,” he notes.
To combat the risk of trafficking, traceability sheets are provided with the names and Siret numbers of the companies that manufactured, dismantled, transported, requalified and sold them. Technical criteria for the elasticity or resistance of the steel are also included.
And who knows, if the temporary Olympic stadiums built in the heart of Paris do not find other destinations, perhaps they will be found on Métalréemploi? jokes Nicolas Pouvreau, general delegate of the Maison de la Construction Métallique (MCM).