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Faced with the scarcity of raw materials, growing volumes of construction waste and new environmental requirements, reusing materials from existing buildings and construction sites offers an opportunity to rethink how urban projects are designed and delivered.
DREC2 builds on the results of the European DREC (Dramatically Reducing Embodied Carbon) programme, coordinated by the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance (CNCA) and supported by the Laudes Foundation and Built by Nature. The project brings together about 15 European metropolitan areas to explore how cities can accelerate the transition towards low-carbon and more circular construction practices. It focuses on sharing experiences, identifying innovative approaches and developing practical strategies that can support a more sustainable transformation of the built environment.
The DREC2 project at Lille Metropole aimed at developing a comprehensive metropolitan approach to the reuse of construction materials. Supported by Cycle Up, the project combines an analysis of the regulatory and operational framework with learning from other metropolitan areas, in order to identify the conditions needed to structure a local reuse ecosystem and inform a future metropolitan strategy. The project builds on the metropolis’ own experience, notably the Pollet project in Blanchemaille, which provided an opportunity to test reuse practices and build up Lille Metropole’s expertise on the subject.
From construction waste to a territorial resource
Rather than considering materials removed from a building as waste, reuse seeks to retain their value and reintegrate them into new projects, as close as possible to where they are available.
For Lille Metropole, this approach can generate several benefits for the territory: reducing construction waste and the environmental footprint associated with the production and transport of new materials, while also creating local economic opportunities and strengthening links between construction professionals, public authorities and other stakeholders.
A first phase focused on understanding the existing landscape
The first phase of DREC2 has now been completed. Its objective was to establish a solid understanding of the conditions in which reuse can develop, looking at the issue from several complementary perspectives.
This first phase also included a comparative analysis of other European cities and metropolitan areas. Two territories were selected for more detailed discussions: Bordeaux Métropole and the Brussels-Capital Region. These exchanges provided an opportunity to explore how other metropolitan authorities are approaching the reuse of construction materials, including their governance arrangements, operational tools, involvement of public actors and ways of monitoring progress.
The comparison is intended to understand which approaches could be relevant to the specific territorial context of Lille Metropole. The methodology developed for the project considers factors such as metropolitan governance, the maturity of local reuse practices, public-sector commitments, operational tools, economic and environmental indicators, and concrete reuse projects.
Another important component of this first phase is the identification of the stakeholders and resources that could contribute to a more structured reuse ecosystem around Lille Metropole.
The project looks at the different stages of the reuse process — from deconstruction and material recovery to sorting, storage, reconditioning and reintegration into new projects. It also seeks to identify existing capacities, gaps in the local ecosystem and opportunities for cooperation at regional and cross-border level.
This territorial approach reflects the fact that reuse requires coordination between public authorities, developers, social housing providers, architects, engineering firms, construction companies, material reuse operators and other specialised organisations.
The completion of this first phase paves the way for the development of a metropolitan strategy for the reuse of construction materials.
