How do we make construction industry more circular?

The construction industry is one of the largest material storage and waste stream in the economy. For example, every year, 1.4 million tons of demolition material is processed in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area alone, with a potential value of €688 million. At the same time, the production of new building materials has a heavy impact on the environment. With high-quality recycling, dismountable and modular construction, this value can be capitalized and the environment saved.

This part discusses the opportunities and barriers to closing material flows in the construction industry, with examples of entrepreneurs who have done so.

The opportunities

Construction has so many facets that companies and administrators can work with many strategies to make it more circular. Five important methods are:

• High-quality recycling of demolition waste, so that fewer primary raw materials are needed;
• Administering materials, so that the value of raw materials is preserved;
• Demountable construction, so that parts of a building can be reused;
• Modular construction, so that buildings can be adapted to new functions;
• Designing for collective use, so that residents can share buildings and belongings.

Many entrepreneurs are active with these strategies. Below are examples of companies that are committed to high quality recycling, administration of materials, and dismountable building.

Selling recycled concrete

Concrete is the most widely used raw material in construction. The Rutte Group and New Horizon have set up a processing plant together that can recover the most valuable component from used concrete: cement. They successfully market this cement under the name Freement.

Offices as material depots

In order to preserve the value of materials in a building, their type and quality must be known. The Madaster company facilitates the capture of this information by means of a raw materials passport and an online platform. The raw materials passport establishes the identity and use of materials, after which this information is disclosed through an online platform. This platform functions as a public library of materials in the built environment.

Retaining the highest value of the products, parts and materials

Nurol Construction and Gölpazarı Municipality collaborated through the Turkish Circular Economy Platform (TCEP) to utilize waste materials and to support eco-tourism activities.

With this cooperation realized through the platform, the different types of excess and waste bricks from the Nurol Construction projects were donated to be used in the Eco-village Learning Center and Exhibition Area Project in Kurşunlu Village of Gölpazarı Municipality.

In line with the main principle of circular economy, retaining the highest value of the products, parts and materials by preserving its current function as much as possible, this cooperation between Nurol Construction and Gölpazarı Municipality made the waste materials are returned back to the economy in the most efficient way possible, thus preventing resource consumption and waste generation.

Ecological and economic benefits

Closing cycles in the construction sector would significantly reduce material costs and environmental impact. As mentioned earlier, demolition material has a high value, provided it is reused in a high quality way.

Switching to a circular construction sector offers opportunities for almost all partners in the chain.

In addition to this economic value, high-grade re-use of building materials would also significantly reduce the sector’s environmental pressure. A large part of the emissions that are released from the production of building materials would be significantly lower if construction was carried out using recycled materials.

The barriers

Despite the advantages of a circular construction sector, there are still four factors hindering its development: market development, measurement methods, policy, and knowledge (Nelissen et al. 2018).

Market development

The demand for circular construction projects still relies heavily on public tenders, because modular or demountable construction projects are often even more expensive than linear construction approaches. The innovative nature and limited supply of circular construction solutions result in higher investment costs. At the same time, it takes years before any savings or gains from renovating or dismantling the building pay for themselves. In order to be accepted in the market, therefore, circular construction must be given added value. For this, it is essential that there are measurement methods and more knowledge about this value among builders, clients, financers and other parties in the chain.

Measurement methods

If the added value of circular construction for the environment, health, comfort, safety and operating costs can be demonstrated, the demand for circular construction will increase. As soon as a lender is unable to assess the value of the raw materials in a dismountable building, he/she cannot include them in the calculation. Therefore, standardized measurement methods are needed. However, all partners in the chain must be involved in order for a measurement method to be effective and accepted.

Knowledge

Necessary for the development of the market and standardized measurement methods is to build up knowledge in all parts of the chain. A building can still be designed circularly, but if a subcontractor closes the joints with pur foam, it is still not circular.

Policy

As explained, circular construction only becomes interesting when the added value is measured and acknowledged. Government policy can contribute to this by acting as a launching customer and directing the development of measurement methods and knowledge in the chain and deploy the development of circular construction.