This year marked 30 years of the Salvo Code, the pioneering framework that established standards for responsible sourcing and safer trading in architectural antiques and reclamation. To celebrate, we hosted a special panel event and members’ supper during Circular Economy Week — and what a night it was! Old friends, new collaborators, and long-time supporters gathered at The Duke Organic, London’s first Truly Reclaimed® pub.

Salvo Code supper surrounded by Truly Reclaimed® materials including teak and copperlight doors

We often hear about the circular economy as if it’s a brand-new concept, but many of its principles have been guiding our work for decades. Now in its eighth year, Circular Economy Week highlights how ideas of reuse and resourcefulness have deep roots. Back in the 1990s, The Duke Organic (already a pioneering eco pub) hosted a meeting with the Soil Association, Salvo, Friends of the Earth, and others to launch the Good Wood Guide — a practical resource on sourcing reclaimed timber.  With a directory compiled by Salvo, the guide encouraged people to think carefully about where materials come from and to prioritise reuse before turning to responsibly sourced new supplies.

Looking around the room during this year’s celebration, I saw many familiar faces, people who have helped shape the reuse movement. Their work laid the foundations for today’s conversations about circularity, long before it became part of the mainstream. What’s changed now is the urgency and the scale of the environmental challenges we face. The question has never been whether we should reuse, but how we can make it a central part of modern life and practice, which is exactly what I explored with our panel guests.

If you missed the event, do not worry because we will be sharing highlights from the discussion in SalvoNEWS soon. Expect insights from Gareth Roberts of Roberts and Tréguer, the practice behind The Culpeper family of restaurants (including The Duke Organic), and Jason Davies of The Architectural Forum, a leading source for architectural salvage and supplier of the Truly Reclaimed® materials reused in the pub.

Here’s to the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate, and to you for being part of the reuse movement.