‘It’s beautiful, don’t you think?’ The urban miners unearthing treasure in Belgium’s homes and garages
As the historic town of Leuven strives to become carbon neutral, it is transforming how its building are made – and demolished. Are there lessons for the rest of the world?
Kelly Sempels’ dad was a builder, most of her five brothers are builders, and, until leaving her last job, she too was a builder. Now, after a career fixing roofs and laying bricks Sempels is plying a new trade: “urban mining”. She and her crew of six still dress and talk like builders, but their focus now revolves less around construction than dismantling.
“I love it when I can go to work and learn something new,” says the 43-year-old, pointing to a pile of laminate floor tiles in the corner of the terrace house that she is helping to strip. “Like how to break wooden floors without actually breaking them.”
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