A housing association has pledged to build 12 new homes that are virtually free of plastic.
As well as reducing the amount of plastic used in the construction process, Accord Housing Association will also look at alternatives when fitting the kitchens, bathrooms and windows.
The project - thought to be the first of its kind in the UK - is part of the Circular Housing Asset Renovation & Management partnership funded by Interreg European Funding.
Carl Taylor, assistant director of new businesses at Accord, said: ‘We believe this type of development hasn’t been done at scale before – there have been a few one off attempts, but nobody has really looked at how we could produce mainstream houses with all the amenities without using plastic.
‘We particularly want to remove the plastic from the kitchens and the bathrooms, because even though a house can last for a hundred years or more, the average kitchen and bathroom is changed every few years and we are keen to avoid generating plastic waste.
‘This trans-European project will enable us to work with our European partners to identify plastic free building products. We haven’t yet got a plastic free solution to the electrics for instance, but we will be challenging people in the building products manufacturing industry to help us find solutions.’
The development work will start in 2020.
