01 Oct 2020
This policy panel on implementing a circular economy in cities is part of the 9th European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns, taking place from 30 September to 2 October 2020 in Mannheim, Germany.
You are here
Construction, Buildings and Infrastructure
10 Sep 2020
The Benelux Builds Circular Webinar on 10 September is a policy discussion on circular construction from a national, Benelux and EU standpoint.
14 Sep 2020 to 18 Sep 2020
Participate in a series of short online events aimed to inspire housing organisations, policy-makers and communities. They will focus on circular economy in housing and on how communities can develop new homes or retrofit existing homes with minimal impact on the planet.
ECESP Leadership Group on the construction sector: reflections Summer 2020
Abstract:
The Coordination Group decided, in Autumn 2019, to create leadership groups to hold in-depth discuss and deliver orientations on priority topics.
The group led by ENEA and composed of INEC, ACR+, European Environmental Bureau and Ecopreneur has released its reflections on the circularity of the construction sector.
CirQuality OWL – a production site closes loops
The CirQuality OWL project is funded by the EU (ERDF) and the Federal State North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW) with the aim of fostering the circular economy in the area.
Seven regional partners from the different fields (from energy to technologies to food to universities and associations) teamed up to use the circular economy to get the region off the ground in an innovative, crisis-proof, resilient and sustainable way. Together they are jointly striving for the following goals:
- Discover Circular Economy (CE)
- Regional capacity building
- Qualifying stakeholders
- Providing strategic support to stakeholders
- Developing regional identity
- Transfer results
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions through circular economy actions in the buildings sector
The briefing highlights the key findings of the background report "The Decarbonisation Benefits of Sectoral Circular Economy Actions", produced for the European Environment Agency by Ramboll, Ecologic Institute and Fraunhofer ISI.
The key messages are the following:
- Greater circularity and more efficient use of materials present new opportunities for further reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- A new methodology can help to identify which circular economy actions in each sector can make the most promising contributions to meeting targets to reduce emissions and to achieving climate neutrality in Europe.
- In the buildings sector, selected circular economy actions can lead to reductions of up to 61 % in the materials-related greenhouse gases emitted across buildings’ life cycles.
20 Aug 2020 to 06 Oct 2020
Nordic Innovation launches a series of workshops, free of charge, to develop collaborative pilots across industry ecosystems, that can be scaled to successful transition towards a circular economy, critical for innovation and economic growth around the Nordics.
Copenhagen International School (CIS) - a low-energy building and the largest building-integrated photovoltaic in Europe
CIS Nordhavn is a new school building for the Copenhagen International School (CIS). It is a low-energy building and the largest building-integrated photovoltaic installation in Europe.
Best practices on industrial symbiosis in Italy and the contribution of regional policies
Best practices on industrial symbiosis in Italy and the contribution of regional policies as a strategic lever
In 2016, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) set up a Symbiosis Users Network (SUN) to boost industrial symbiosis in Italy. The network promotes circular economy models through industrial symbiosis by focusing on operational issues.
SUN's 2019 conference was devoted to Good practices of industrial symbiosis in Italy and the contribution of regional policies as a strategic lever. The event, co-organised by SUN, Ecomondo and ENEA was held in Rimini (IT) on 7 November 2019 at Ecomondo - a leading event in Europe for new circular economy models.
Click on 2017 and 2019 to see the reports on SUN's two conferences.
Reports on ENEA-promoted conferences on industrial symbiosis are available here.
14 Jul 2020
CINDERELA invites you to this webinar on 14 July 2020 (9:30-11:30 CEST). The EU-funded project will present "CINDERELA One-Stop-Shop" (CinderOSS), its new digital platform for actors involved in chains for urban construction works with the use of secondary raw materials (SRM) recovered from local/regional waste streams.
Circular Schools Programme (PEC by INEC)
Abstract:
The National Institute for Circular Economy (INEC) in France is launching the Circular Schools Programme (PEC), an operational project aimed at making schools a model for the circular economy.
12 Jun 2020
Public consultation on boosting the renovation of buildings across the EU launched by the European Commission in order to gather views and input from a broad range of stakeholders, including national, regional and local authorities, businesses, unions, civil society organisations, education organisations, consumer groups, research and innovation organisations, as well as individual citizens.
Circular economy brings value for real estate businesses
Abstract:
Research led by Ellen McArthur Foundation in cooperation with Arup highlights the benefits of the circular economy. It outlines five models for real estate business.
The circular economy: Going digital
The circular economy: Going digital
The European Policy Centre’s (EPC) Task Force called Digital Roadmap to Circular Economy has explored the linkages between digitalisation and circular economy, the opportunities created by data and digitally-enabled solutions, and the challenges associated with harnessing their full potential for the transition to a circular economy.
The project represents a pioneering endeavour in exploring the interconnections between the digital and green transformations and considers the implications for EU policymaking.
The final publication The circular economy: Going digital and its executive summary show that digitalisation can offer enormous possibilities for the transition to a more sustainable, circular economy but it is essential to steer it in the right direction.
EUMEPS op-ed on the ‘Renovation Wave’
EUMEPS op-ed: Thermal insulation improvements in the EU building Renovation Wave also promote the Circular Economy
The European Manufacturers of Expanded Polystyrene (EUMEPS) is the voice of the Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) industry. It has published an op-ed welcoming the European Commission’s commitment to a Renovation Wave and the outline of its strategy shared in the roadmap published in May 2020. It believes that this initiative is a great opportunity for scaling-up current renovation rates and EU’s climate and energy efficiency goals.
EUMEPS agrees that increased renovation can be a key contributor to creating jobs and stimulating economic recovery in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It embraces the Commission’s finding that buildings are also critical for making circularity work and its objective to implement the Renovation Wave in line with circular economy principles.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation launches Circular Economy in Cities portal
Abstract:
In March 2019, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched Circular Economy in Cities, a suite of easily accessible resources which provide a global reference on the topic.
WBCSD and Circle Economy: Scaling the Circular Built Environment
Abstract:
This publication by WBCSD and Circle Economy highlights how the built environment, consuming almost half of the world's resources extracted every year and responsible for a massive environmental footprint, is a fundamental sector in the circular transition.
04 Jun 2020
The webinar series organised by Tondo represents an opportunity for companies, start-ups and experts from all over the world to have a clearer overview of the status of the circular economy and how it can enhance innovative business models and concepts with lower environmental impacts.This third session will continue to focus on circular cities around the world, in this specific case Rotterdam.
Strategy for Circular Economy
Danish Strategy for Circular Economy
In 2018, the Danish Ministry of Environment and Food and the Danish Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs launched a Strategy for Circular Economy, based on recommendations by an Advisory Board for Circular Economy. The strategy will be implemented in the period 2018-2022. The government launched initiatives within six thematic areas:
- Strengthening enterprises as a driving force for circular transition
- Supporting circular economy through data and digitalisation
- Promoting circular economy through design
- Changing consumption patterns through circular economy
- Creating a proper functioning market for waste and recycled raw materials
- Getting more value out of buildings and biomass.
The Netherlands Institute for Circular Construction
The Netherlands Institute for Circular Construction (Nederlands Instituut voor Circulair Bouwen):
- develops national and international research and innovation projects;
- provides various types of knowledge transfer in these research and innovation projects;
- increases the visibility of innovation and icon projects and
- supports project and construction teams with technical, contractual and financial aspects of a circular construction process.
Its key areas are modular construction, high-quality recycling, circular business models and circular contracting.
restado - Marketplace for the reuse of construction material
restado.de is a marketplace matching construction materials coming from demolition or oversupply with the demand in new construction projects.
From digging to building: construction site excavations make perfect, low-emission new bricks
At its production site in Brussels, BC materials blends and transforms ordinary earth streams - what some consider to be waste - into perfectly circular building materials.
18 Mar 2020 to 20 Mar 2020
On 17 and 18 March 2020 the Circular Materials Conference invites you to reimagine materials with the help of emerging technologies and novel collaborations to create a circular future together.
RE4 project: designing solutions for circular buildings, integrating recycled materials from construction and demolition waste
The EU-funded RE4 project has developed prefabricated energy-efficient building concepts containing up to 85 % of recycled materials and reused structures from construction and demolition waste (DMW).
restado - Circular Economy in the Construction Sector
restado is a platform that offers a circular economy approach to construction by promoting the reuse of reclaimed construction materials.
It provides support and knowledge on how to reclaim and reuse the materials, and offers a marketplace to trade them.
Sustainable construction guidelines for public authorities – A circular economy perspective
Sustainable construction guidelines for public authorities – A circular economy perspective aims to help public authorities navigate through the topic of sustainable construction, understand what it means and determine how to encourage it.
The guidelines are especially targeted at local and regional authorities, as they play a crucial role in the whole construction life cycle not only by stimulating innovation and cooperation between all actors but also because they work at a level close to citizens.
Unlike most of the literature on the topic, these guidelines focus on circularity and material resource efficiency, rather than covering only energy efficiency extensively. Moreover, the report goes beyond waste to integrate the whole value chain of the construction sector.