From ruins to resource: recycling rubble in the socialist reconstruction of Warsaw

This article examines how the recycling of rubble became a means of enacting the planned reconstruction of post-war Warsaw. In the wake of the Second World War, the city's ruins were transformed into a resource for the planned economy through new legislation, the reorganisation of demolition practices, the development of technical expertise, and the establishment of a recycling industry — all led by state institutions. Drawing on ‘grey literature’ produced by employees of these institutions — including technical drawings, material studies, conference proceedings, and internal reports — the article shows how rubble recycling was developed, codified, and industrialised, and how it was mobilised in the production of socialist architecture. The resulting account recovers the materiality of the post-war environment within the history of reconstruction, showing its formative role alongside architectural expertise and state power. Simultaneously, the article positions architecture and construction as pivotal economic sectors in the history of recycling, thereby contributing to the understanding of the politics of waste in the twentieth century.