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People who incorporate reused building materials in new construction or in renovating existing structures typically do so for the benefit of their wallet or the planet, or both. Reused building materials can yield significant cost savings and reduce a project’s environmental impact. Reuse not only keeps demolition waste and surplus building materials from ending up in landfills; it also reduces the demand for production of new materials.
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Straightening Out the Terminology
Terms like reused, repurposed, recycled, and reclaimed often are used rather indiscriminately, as though they all mean the same thing, which can be confusing for consumers. So, let’s establish their true meanings and clarify how they are used here.
Reuse means using an existing item in its original state, for example, installing cabinet hinges, doorknobs, or lighting fixtures salvaged from a demolished structure in a home undergoing remodeling. Reusing such items extends their useful life.
To repurpose an item is to find a new use for it without transforming it, for example, using an antique milk can as a planter, a barn door as a headboard, or a handmade rug as wall art, or to build a retaining wall out of old tires.
To recycle an item is to reprocess it into a new raw material, for example glass bottles can be melted down and used to make new glass jars or can be used as a raw material for making fiberglass. And #2 plastics like milk bottles or detergent bottles can be transformed through recycling into frisbees or paint buckets or plastic lumber for park benches.
Of the four terms, “reclaim” is the most problematic because it has different meanings in different contexts. In the context of chemical waste, such as refrigerants and spent caustics, a waste product that has been reprocessed by a licensed facility to meet an industry standard has been reclaimed. But in the context of building materials, to reclaim an item simply means “rescuing” it from the waste stream without altering its form. In this sense, reclaiming an item is the same as salvaging it. Examples include weathered wood removed from a collapsed barn or plumbing fixtures removed from a building about to be demolished have been reclaimed. They may subsequently be reused, repurposed, or recycled.