Environmental Policy
Reuse first. Our purpose is to keep useful building materials and architectural salvage in circulation for longer, reduce avoidable construction waste and encourage a more local market for reclaimed materials.
Giving Materials Another Life
At The Reclaimed Company®, environmental responsibility is not separate from what we do. It is central to the reason the business exists.
As a reclamation yard and marketplace for reusable materials, our aim is to keep useful building materials, architectural salvage and household items in circulation for longer.
Construction and refurbishment can generate large quantities of unwanted material, yet many of those products retain practical, architectural or historic value. We believe suitable materials should be considered for reuse before replacement.
From our York reclamation yard, we salvage, sort and resell roofing slate, tiles, bricks, stone, chimney pots, fireplaces and other architectural materials. Through The Reclaimed Company marketplace, we also help individuals and businesses connect reusable materials directly with new owners.
Reuse, Reclamation and Responsible Recycling
The Reclaimed Company® is committed to reducing the environmental impact associated with construction materials through reuse, reclamation, resale and responsible recycling.
Where materials remain serviceable, our first objective is to preserve their value by returning them to use rather than immediately treating them as waste.
Reducing Construction Waste Through Reuse
Our first priority is to encourage reuse wherever practical.
Reclaimed slate, tiles, bricks, stone and architectural materials can often be used again for repairs, extensions, restoration projects and new construction.
Reuse retains the value already embodied within a material and can reduce demand for newly manufactured replacements while helping prevent serviceable products from unnecessarily becoming waste.
For period and traditional buildings, reclaimed materials can provide another important benefit: helping repairs and alterations better match the colour, dimensions, texture and weathering of the existing building.
Preserving Material Value
A reclaimed roof slate, brick or chimney pot has already been quarried, manufactured and transported once.
Where it remains serviceable, extending its useful life can be a more resource-conscious choice than automatically replacing it with a newly manufactured product.
Reducing Material Miles
Transport is an important consideration when dealing with construction materials. Slate, stone, bricks, chimney pots and other reclaimed products can be heavy and inefficient to move unnecessary distances.
Our York reclamation yard therefore has an important local role. We collect, receive and resell materials throughout York and the surrounding area, creating opportunities for materials removed from one project to be reused on another nearby.
Salvage Locally
Recover useful materials from refurbishment, roofing and construction projects before they enter the waste stream.
Store & Redistribute
Sort and retain suitable stock so it remains available to trades, homeowners and restoration projects.
Reuse Nearby
Encourage local purchasing wherever possible to shorten the distance between salvage and eventual reuse.
Where products are sold further afield, we aim where practicable to consolidate deliveries and use suitable pallet or freight services rather than relying upon inefficient individual journeys.
A Wider Network for Local Reuse
Our ambition goes beyond the materials physically held at our own reclamation yard.
The Reclaimed Company marketplace is designed to make it easier for individuals, contractors, reclamation businesses and property owners to offer reusable materials directly to prospective buyers.
A reusable material should not always need to travel through several intermediaries before finding another home. By helping buyers and sellers connect more directly, particularly within the same area, we aim to support a more efficient local salvage economy.
In practical terms, this might mean roof tiles salvaged in York being reused on another project nearby, stone remaining within the same county, or a fireplace finding a new owner without first travelling through a national distribution network.
Browse the MarketplaceWorking With Trades and Businesses
Local collaboration is central to our approach.
We work with roofing contractors, builders, stove installers, property owners and other businesses that regularly encounter materials with useful life remaining.
Rather than automatically treating these items as waste, suitable materials can be recovered, brought to our yard, sorted and offered for resale.
Roofing projects may produce reusable slate and clay tiles, while refurbishment and fireplace works can make surrounds, hearths and other architectural components available for another property.
From One Project to the Next
The most useful role of a reclamation yard is often as a bridge between projects.
A product removed from one building may be exactly what is required to repair another. By retaining and redistributing those materials, we can help create a practical route from demolition or refurbishment back into the construction supply chain.
Our aim is simple: keep useful materials useful for as long as reasonably possible.
Sorting, Recycling and Packaging
Material Sorting
Salvaged stock is sorted so that reusable materials can be separated from products that are damaged or unsuitable.
Responsible Recycling
Where direct reuse is not practical, materials such as masonry, stone, metals and timber can be separated for appropriate recycling or recovery where facilities are available.
Pallets & Packaging
Serviceable pallets and packaging are reused wherever practical to avoid unnecessary consumption of new packaging materials.
Our objective is to retain the highest practical value from a material before disposal is considered.
A Simple Reclamation Hierarchy
Our environmental policy can be reduced to five practical principles: