Partners: Staaltro (reuse operator and seller), CapMan Real Estate (property owner of donor building), Insenti (project lead), Bevar/Øst-Riv (demolition and dismantling contractor), SINTEF (LCA), Ahlsell (wholesaler partner)
Country: Norway
What was piloted
Staaltro, a Norwegian reuse startup focused on circular steel products, piloted a full dismantling-to-distribution flow for steel cable trays in a real Oslo rehabilitation project. The pilot tested five concrete objectives: an effective deconstruction method; documentation of time and effort for careful dismantling vs. demolition; assessment of how many trays are fit for reuse; a quality assessment document registrable in EFObasen (Norwegian electrical-industry product database); and the remaining lifecycle of a reused tray. 145 metres of cable trays were dismantled.
Challenges and how they were tackled
Timing and project access. Staaltro joined mid-execution rather than during planning, which limited the scope. Staaltro is now developing standard tender clauses that property owners can insert into demolition contracts to make early reuse engagement the default.
Material condition assessed too late. Visible corrosion in the humid garage environment, combined with assessment happening after dismantling, meant the trays could not be safely resold. The team chose to continue the pilot as a process and documentation case. By Q3 2026, Staaltro will have a standardised on-site condition assessment protocol anchored in the SINTEF LCA data, giving a go or no-go decision before dismantling.
Dismantling economics. A one-person method with a dedicated work frame proved more efficient than a two-person setup, and the resulting time-and-cost data was used to define a market-acceptable price point with partners.
Key learnings
The CO₂ case is exceptionally strong: SINTEF's LCA shows reusing cable trays delivers a 93% reduction in lifecycle emissions vs. new (from 19.2 to 1.3 kg CO₂e per unit, assuming at least 50 years of remaining lifespan), and 99% in the production phase alone . For the 145 metres in this pilot, that would have been about 868 kg CO₂e saved over a building lifetime, had material conditions allowed reuse.
Cable trays are an ideal first product category for reuse: design has barely changed in 40 years, old units can be combined with new, and the European standard makes them transferable across markets.
Quality assessment must happen before dismantling, not after, the single most important process change identified by the pilot.
Early property-owner commitment is decisive: when reuse is in the project brief, the rest of the value chain follows.
Solution scaling probability: 5 / 5
Staaltro is planning to conduct a first full-cycle case for cable trays during 2026. From 2027 the same approach will extend to sprinkler pipes and ventilation components.
A meeting with CapMan and a presentation at NCPP led to this pilot. CapMan gave us a real building to prove reuse on, and that was the pivotal point. It got the ball rolling, opened doors to other customers, and showed what it means to have someone take a chance on you. Cable trays are just the start. We're continuing the reuse journey, with the goal of completing full-cycle cases this year.
— Fredrikke Rusten, CEO, Staaltro