Circular Economy

Reclaimed Materials

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Definition

Reclaimed materials are materials recovered from existing buildings, products or waste streams and returned to productive use — reclaimed timber and bricks from demolition, salvaged fixtures, recovered aggregates, or components recovered for remanufacture. Reclamation sits high in the waste hierarchy: direct reuse preserves the material's form and embodied energy, while reprocessing (as with recycled content) retains material value with some re-manufacture.

References

U.S. EPASustainable materials management — reuse

Supports definition and framing.

Overview

How it is used

The concept appears in green building credits (material reuse in BREEAM and LEED), demolition planning (pre-demolition audits), circular procurement and remanufacturing policy.

Why it matters

Reclaiming materials is circularity in its most literal form — turning the existing built environment into the mine of the next one.