Work progressing on UK’s first development of plastic free homes

Work to build the UK’s first development of virtually plastic free homes is progressing well, with the installation of the roof trusses being completed.

Owned and built by housing and care provider GreenSquareAccord, the ground-breaking development based in Redditch will provide 12 affordable homes built using plastic free alternatives to reduce environmental impact.

The development is the first of its kind in Europe and is transforming the site of a former factory carpark into one bedroom apartments for local people.

The project is the result of collaborative working with Redditch Borough Council and is part of the CHARM (Circular Housing Asset Renovation & Management) partnership, made up of representatives from four European countries: the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Carl Taylor, Assistant Director of New Business at GreenSquareAccord said: “Our goal for this development is to lead the way, showing what is possible and achievable in reducing the consumption of plastic within construction. We have been investing in low carbon housing solutions for many years and aim to develop a low carbon, low plastic model for providing affordable homes on a large scale.”

The new homes are being constructed using timber panels from GreenSquareAccord’s award winning, low carbon manufacturing facility, LoCaL Homes. Each apartment will feature high end finishes, with plastic free alternatives installed such as wooden kitchen units and aluminium window frames, wiring using a mineral based insulation rather than the usual plastic, and solar thermal heating systems which will provide low running costs.

The project which is due to complete in March 2022, has received £1.2m EU funding from the Interreg North-West Europe funding partnership, allowing GreenSquareAccord to research the reduction and removal of plastic in a real world large scale project; paving the way for a future of plastic free construction.