Free building materials in France: how the Cycle Zéro app works

Double glazed windows and rolls of insulation are among brand new building materials available for free from building sites via an app.

The app, called Cycle Zéro, was conceived by a young architect who was astonished by the quantity of unused materials that were discarded in skips at local construction sites.

“I have always liked building sites more than offices, so when I became an architect I made a point of spending a lot of my time on them,” Karima Lesbir told The Connexion.

“What I saw astonished me – there were skips and skips of perfectly good building materials being taken away to landfill sites or for incineration.

“One case, in particular, brought it home to me. A large block of flats was under construction, but the wrong-sized windows had been ordered. 

"So you had 300 beautiful, timber-framed, double-glazed windows which were being thrown away, and I thought that we must find a way to do better.”

Over the years, several websites and apps have offered reclaimed building materials at low cost or free of charge, typically from homeowners to other homeowners, but few have succeeded or lasted very long.

There are also platforms for professionals, where firms specialising in déstockage (clearance or stock disposal) can bid for lots from building professionals. They, too, have had limited success.

Ms Lesbir said the 2020 Loi anti-gaspillage pour une économie circulaire (AGEC), which came into force in France in line with EU objectives, changed the rules and allowed companies such as Cycle Zéro to move into a new space.

“AGEC means that building companies have to account for their environmental footprint, and the industry set up trade bodies to help them do that,” she said.

“The service we are offering is part-funded by these trade bodies – payments depend on the volume of successfully donated material – and they also help us approach the companies.”

So far 350,000 individuals have downloaded the Cycle Zéro app, and 30 companies, including giants in the construction industry such as Vinci and Bouygues, have joined the professional side. Artisans are not included, mainly as they seldom over-order.

Using the app, users can see what materials have been listed within a 100km radius of their address, along with details of where and when they can be picked up. 

Pick-up times vary, but many are relatively early in the morning (Monday to Thursday, from 07:00 to 08:00, for example), so that work on site is disrupted as little as possible.

Also included are details such as whether a van will be needed, or if the donated items can be carried in a car.

If users decide they are interested, they click to confirm this and are sent detailed instructions, along with a reminder as the collection day approaches.

Ms Lesbir says the process is simple, though it requires some basic safety measures.

“Users are entering large building sites so have to wear safety shoes and a helmet. Upon arrival, the manager handling the matter will welcome them, show them where the material is, before they load up and leave,” she said.

Free listings have included rolls of carpet, insulation, kitchen units, light fittings, bricks, wallpaper and paving stones.

For professionals, the immediate benefit is having fewer skips on site and lowering removal costs – usually between €400 and €500 per skip.

They can also prove they are cutting their environmental footprint, and so reduce their environmental tax liabilities.

Efforts made so far are good but not enough, said Ms Lesbir. “So we are also selling environmental and financial software to firms, which allows them to plan how to reduce their environmental footprint further.”