Policy CC/CE: Supporting a circular economy and sustainable resource use

1. All development proposals should, where practical and viable, take opportunities to reduce the development’s embodied carbon content through the careful choice, use and sourcing of materials. 

2. To avoid the wastage of embodied carbon in existing buildings and to avoid the creation of new embodied carbon in replacement buildings, there is a presumption in favour of repairing, refurbishing, and re-using existing buildings over their demolition. Proposals that result in the demolition of a building (in whole or a significant part) should be accompanied by a full justification for the demolition. Demolition will only be acceptable where it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority that: 

  a. the building proposed for demolition is in a state of such disrepair that it is not practical or viable to be repaired, refurbished, or re-used (for reasons other than deliberate damage or neglect); 

  b. repairing, refurbishing, or re-using the building would likely result in similar or higher levels of newly generated up-front embodied carbon (modules A1-A5 of the RICS methodology) compared to demolition and re-construction, with reference to relevant requirements in policy CC/NZ for new buildings; 

  c. repairing, refurbishing, or re-using the building would create a building with such poor thermal efficiency that, when considering lifecycle embodied carbon (i.e. modules A1- A5, B1-B5 and C1-C4), a lower net-carbon solution would arise from demolition and re-construction; or 

  d. demolition of the building and construction of a new building would, on an exceptional basis, deliver other significant benefits that outweigh the carbon savings that would arise from the building being repaired, or re-used. 

Where demolition is considered to be acceptable after these steps have been followed, proposals should seek all possible opportunities to integrate wider circular economy principles through the reuse of materials arising from demolition or make those materials available for wider reuse and recycling where possible. 

Operational waste management 

3. All proposals must provide adequate and easily accessible waste storage and collection systems that encourage recycling and other forms of sustainable waste management such as composting. 

4. Proposals should comply with the RECAP Waste Management Design Guide (or successor documents). Proposals that exceed these requirements or propose innovative approaches to waste management will be supported, subject to accordance with other requirements in the

This refers to development in its widest sense, including buildings, and streets, spaces and places. It also refers to both redevelopment, including refurbishment, as well as new development.

Plan. 

Circular Economy Statements 

5. A Circular Economy Statement proportionate to the scale and nature of the proposed development must be submitted as part of a planning application for the following types of development: 

  a. Residential development of 150 or more dwellings; or 

  b. Non-residential development with a total gross internal floorspace of 15,000 square metres or more; or 

  c. Any major development proposal that involves demolition. 

6. For all other types of development, details proportionate to the nature and scale of development that demonstrates how circular economy principles have been integrated into the proposals must be provided as part of a Sustainability Statement. 

Avoiding waste and designing places in such a way that facilitates material and component reuse helps to prevent the need for the manufacture of new materials, which is an important element in achieving a net-zero carbon future. Furthermore, efficient recycling of waste places fewer demands on natural resources, thereby helping to conserve the environment and limiting residual waste in line with the Government’s Waste Hierarchy. 

Sustainable resource use and sustainable waste management are supported by the integration of a circular economy. Circular economies have three core objectives: 

• Eliminate waste and pollution (i.e. designing products, materials, and infrastructure for durability and recyclability to avoid creating unnecessary waste or pollution). 
• Circulate products and materials (i.e. keeping materials in use through reuse, repair and recycling thereby preventing them from becoming waste). 
• Regenerate natural systems (i.e. focusing on sustainable resource management and using nature-based solutions to help with day-to-day functions, for example, water treatment). 

In achieving these objectives, the following circular economy principles should be viewed as fundamental to and taken into account during the early stages of the design process: 

1. building in layers – ensuring that different parts of the building are accessible and can be maintained and replaced where necessary. 

2. designing out waste – ensuring that waste reduction is planned in from project inception to completion, including consideration of standardised components, modular construction, and reuse of secondary products and materials. 

3. designing for longevity. 

4. designing for adaptability or flexibility. 

5. designing for disassembly. 

6. using systems, elements or materials that can be reused and recycled. 

A significant proportion of a building’s whole-life greenhouse gas emissions are locked into its fabric, with emissions stemming from material manufacturing, the transportation of materials and components, and physical construction and demolition – these emissions are commonly referred to as “embodied carbon”. The effective application of circular economy principles to the built environment creates places where buildings are designed for adaptation, reconstruction and deconstruction, which reduces the need to extract raw materials and manufacture new building components. To avoid the unnecessary wastage of embodied carbon emissions in existing buildings, proposals must make every effort to refurbish, retrofit and re-use existing buildings and building materials, where possible. It is recognised that retrofit or refurbishment may not be the most sustainable option for the development of a site or may not be viable, but applicants must present a clear case that demolition and reconstruction is the only viable option for the development of the site or, in exceptional circumstances, would deliver significant public benefits. 

The Councils will also expect applicants to use circular economy principles to shape the day-to-day functionality of a development. Developers should consult the adopted RECAP Waste Management Design Guide (or successor documents), to ensure developments support the practicalities of waste management and promote recycling. Innovative solutions, such as underground waste management and smart waste management systems, will be encouraged and supported. 

Circular Economy Statements can be used to demonstrate how materials, resources, and infrastructure will be reused or recycled to reduce the environmental impact of development and provide ongoing economic benefits. Circular Economy Statements should include details of how: 

a. circular economy principles have informed the design of building(s) and/or structures, and the overall site layout; 

b. the proposal’s design and construction will reduce resource demands and enable building materials, components and products to be disassembled and re-used at the end of their useful life; 

c. the local sourcing of materials has been considered and the steps taken to secure local materials and components; 

d. materials arising from demolition and remediation works will be re-used and/or recycled; 

e. opportunities will be taken to ensure as much construction waste is managed on site as possible, and how all waste will be managed in accordance with the waste hierarchy; and 

f. operational waste storage and collection systems to be introduced as part of the development have been designed such that they are easily accessible and support recycling and re-use for the lifetime of the development; and 

g. performance will be monitored and reported. 

For other scales of development, circular economy details should be set out in a Sustainability Statement, with the level of information proportionate to the nature and scale of development. For example, for householder and minor development this could be the reuse of existing materials on site, sustainable sourcing of materials and designing for flexibility, adaptability and deconstruction. Further information on incorporation of circular economy principles will be included in updated Sustainability Checklists for different scales of development. 

This policy should be read alongside the adopted Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Minerals and Waste Local Plan (2021) (or successor document), which contains policies relevant to planning applications for minerals and waste development. 

• The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

  A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

  : Climate Change Topic Paper (2025)

We will consider all comments while developing the next version of the

A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

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All comments must be received by 30 January 2026 at 5pm.