The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food

The document explores the climate impacts of carbon-intensive building materials like concrete and steel, emphasizing that while recycling is necessary, it is insufficient to address the scale of production-related emissions. Panelists advocate for a transition toward reuse, natural building materials, and circular business models to lower embodied emissions. Key policy recommendations include federal 'buy-clean' legislation requiring environmental product declarations (EPDs), expanded product stewardship to hold manufacturers responsible for the entire life cycle of products, and the creation of a national circular economy plan to coordinate goals across states and cities.

• Recycling is considered an insufficient solution for reducing carbon emissions because the majority of environmental impacts occur during the production of materials, and even a 100 percent recycling rate for municipal solid waste would only result in an incrementally small reduction in emissions.
• The climate benefits of energy-efficient building insulation can be offset by the high global warming potential of the chemicals used in their manufacture, such as extruded polystyrene foam, which can take 30 to 40 years of energy savings to neutralize the initial material impact.
• Circular business models, such as leasing roof structures, can reduce upfront construction costs and enable higher investment in energy efficiency while ensuring materials are returned to the manufacturer for reuse at the end of the building's life cycle.
• To drive the market for low-carbon materials, the federal government should implement 'buy-clean' legislation requiring environmental product declarations (EPDs) and provide funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to act as a public data repository for life cycle information.

APA

Johnson, E. (2021). The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/120821waste

Chicago

Johnson, Emma. The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2021. https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/120821waste.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Johnson |first1=Emma |title=The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=8 December 2021 |url=https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/120821waste |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{johnson2021climate, author = {Johnson, Emma}, title = {{The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/120821waste}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }