It might seem that we have woken up rather late, in the process of living, to the idea of re-using and recycling. And indeed we are far more aware today than we have been since the industrial revolution to the perils that we have brought upon our planet by not having an environmental strategy in place sooner. We should however remind ourselves that there is at least one very significant part of our lives that we automatically recycle or reuse throughout the world: the very homes we live in.

There are, in the animal kingdom, perhaps a few species that either recycle their homes or re-use them. Eagles and hawks will re-use their nests year on year, perhaps because they are large by default and require a substantial effort to build in the first place. Hummingbirds also will simply add material to the nest they built previously year on year. Other birds have been known to return to a nest they have built the previous year or, more often, move into another ready-made nest they prefer the look or feel of. Burrowing owls take over burrows in deserts and grasslands created by prairie dogs. Some prefer to simply recycle the elements of a found nest to rebuild their own in the same location. Other animals are also known to inhabit the vacant homes of previous owners. Hermit crabs use shells abandoned by sea snails amongst others. Octopuses are known to build makeshift homes from any discarded debris lying on the seabed. And assassin bugs wear the outer shells of their insect prey to ward off predators.

Of course human beings the world over think nothing of living in a home that has been previously occupied. And this is indeed one of the most environmentally astute ways of protecting our planet from further pollutants created by the production of the enormous variety of materials required to construct a shelter for human habitation. One might suggest that our homes do not have to be architect designed. They don’t have to even be aesthetically pleasing. They simply have to be fit for purpose, upgraded and modernised as required. But not all our housing stock necessarily fits the bill. There have been periods in the history of house building, typically post-wars, when there was a greater need of houses in a short space of time. Economic necessity and tight building schedules led to properties conceived without adequate layout and spacial planning considerations. Which is indeed, unfortunately, what we are tending to see in many housing estates around the UK that are being created today, often just scraping through the construction standards set, in order to satisfy the current pressing demand for new homes. 

Sadly, at a time when re-purposing empty buildings ought to be at the forefront of focussed environmental action, there seem to be increasing numbers of empty and abandoned buildings worldwide. Sometimes, despite offering a superior quality of housing, whole villages, such as those found in France and Italy for example, have been unable to withstand the test of time, no longer being able to support an economically viable community community or perhaps having been blighted by natural disasters like earthquakes. Often too, abandoned industrial units, warehouses and office buildings find themselves trapped in a downward spiral for lack of investors willing to plough money into repurposing them. This despite the fact that the quality of the buildings themselves is often superior in construction and location to the cheek-by-jowl dwellings created on many new-build estates.

Those houses that have had considered design input, with thoughtful consideration to internal layout and to placement on the plot of land as well as to their general location and orientation, continue to satisfy changing human habitation needs. These are the houses, both large and small, detached, semi or terraced, that find new inhabitants decade on decade and century after century. This in stark contrast to the post-war prefab homes which are too flimsy to be upgraded and were mostly built with a 30 year or so life cycle in mind. Similarly the tower block: the ubiquitous response to a need for mass housing in the urban environment. There are many well-documented social issues surrounding tower block estates, including a sense of loss of community. The sense of separation and isolation of this design type is not limited to a less wealthy economic sector but is true also of those accommodating middle class city dwellers. How will these fare in the decades to come? Will they endure for re-use by future generations?

Styles of house interiors undoubtedly change with the changing needs of each generation. But a well-proportioned house that is solidly built can in most cases be repurposed to accommodate the very latest in lifestyles. Water closets that were originally placed outside the home began to be relocated within a room of the house, spawning, eventually, the idea of the ‘cloak room’ and then the ‘bath room’. Bathrooms today are morphing into shower rooms. Front parlours became sitting rooms and in later iterations a living room. Some larger properties perhaps created or retained both sitting and living rooms. The basic needs of a family met in accordance with the fashions and styles of the day. Kitchens too have changed extensively from small, often cold back rooms with limited facilities and an outside tap or well,  into, for many, the hub of the family home, bristling with integrated and freestanding appliances. Today dining rooms are beginning to lose importance as kitchens gain both internal space and family focus. Bedrooms that might have once housed several offspring are often the domain of just one family member. And increasingly 21st century house buyers or renters are aspiring to en-suite arrangements, perhaps even a dressing room or walk in wardrobe where space permits.

When the fundamentals of a well-designed house, flat or bungalow are properly considered in terms of siting and construction, it will be capable of adaptability to each new inhabitant, their requirements and aspirations for an infinite number of incumbents. And in electing to reuse existing housing stock, or even repurposing empty and abandoned properties, whether domestic, industrial or commercial in origin, in place of poorly considered and constructed new housing developments, we could all enjoy the beauty of the well-built, infinitely recyclable home.

MDF Recovery, a British tech start-up, has developed an innovative technology to recover wood fibre from waste MDF, a material that is typically either incinerated or sent to landfill, with the aim of manufacturing wood fibre insulation products in the UK.

This will be a game changer, not only in terms of recycling material that has until now been sent to landfill, but also the ability to manufacture wood fibre insulation in the UK rather than importing it from abroad should make it both cheaper and more mainstream in construction.

Around 27 million tonnes of MDF is wasted annually worldwide, not taking into account end of life, and until now there had not been an economically viable way to recover and reuse waste MDF fibres.

Craig Bartlett, the MD, has said by producing wood fibre products in the UK they’re hoping to close the price differential between wood fibre products imported from abroad, which are currently five or six times the cost in comparison, to that of glass or mineral wool products currently favoured.

The proprietary technology developed by MDF Recovery was proven, in independent studies, to recover fibres of the same high quality as their virgin fibre equivalents, making them suitable to either go back into MDF production or create products such as wood fibre insulation. The company already operates a pilot recovery plant where it demonstrates the process to potential investors.

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