Building Material Reuse Study
An initiative to help reduce construction and demolition waste, reuse building materials, and achieve sustainability goals.
The City of Boston's Building Material Reuse Study is a research initiative to help reduce building demolition waste, provide builders with high-quality reused construction materials, and help Boston achieve its carbon neutrality and zero waste goals. Property owners in Boston are invited to participate in this study if they have buildings scheduled for demolition or a significant renovation.
The Building Material Reuse Study, conducted in partnership with Boston Building Resources, seeks to lessen Boston’s carbon footprint and the amount of waste the city sends to out-of-state landfills, sometimes as far as Alabama. Boston produces an estimated 640,000 tons of construction and demolition waste each year, sending the equivalent of 26,000 dump trucks worth of reusable and recyclable materials to the landfill—a line of vehicles that would stretch from Boston to Portland, Maine.
Through this initiative, the City is studying the materials from local building demolition and renovation projects that can be reused, as well as mapping out the regional reuse ecosystem. The findings will be used to shape City policy and provide local builders with free resources for reusing materials in their demolition and renovation projects.
“Boston is a hub for innovation, which is why we are taking new approaches to achieve our climate and waste reduction goals,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “By studying the potential for reusing building materials, we open pathways to expanding our local workforce and making our neighborhoods more sustainable.”
“Reusing construction materials is a win for our communities and our planet.” said Brian Swett, Chief Climate Officer. “Leveraging the high-quality building materials found in Boston’s historic buildings allows new construction to preserve our neighborhoods’ unique character. Boston can lower our waste and carbon footprint, especially by reducing our dependence on long-distance waste shipping and new, carbon-intensive construction materials.”
"Boston Building Resources is proud to work with the City of Boston on this exciting program,” said Andrew Thompson, Executive Director of Boston Building Resources. “For over 30 years, we've done the work of harvesting building materials and making them available to our community through our Reuse Center in Roxbury Crossing. Every day, we see how a circular economy for building materials provides sustainable and affordable solutions that uplift our neighbors. We're thrilled to see the City take initiative in this area and are excited to get started."
Participants in the study receive free technical assistance from Boston Building Resources, including an inventory of reusable materials and a material management plan. Building owners are also eligible for tax deductions upon successfully donating recovered building materials from their demolition sites. If you have a Boston property that is slated for demolition or a significant renovation, you can sign up to offer your building to be analyzed for this study. The City is selecting buildings on a rolling basis and seeks to find a representative sample of Boston buildings to study.
Through the end of 2026, the City of Boston is collecting data on over 20 demolition and renovation sites to accurately represent projects and reusable material availability across Boston. This will help the City develop data, tools and guides to support the construction industry with waste diversion and best practices for building deconstruction. A study report and policy recommendations will be published in early 2027.
In 2019, the City of Boston adopted a Zero Waste Plan with a goal to reduce trash disposal more than 70% by 2035. Currently, the Commonwealth requires that many building materials be reused or recycled, including: asphalt pavement, brick, concrete, clean gypsum wallboard, metals, large appliances, and more. Boston’s draft Climate Action Plan identifies building material reuse as a key strategy for waste reduction and carbon emissions mitigation. This spring, the City of Boston will publish its final 2030 Climate Action Plan, a roadmap for how the City will reach its carbon emissions reduction and climate resilience goals.
