Circular innovations in the construction industry

Abstract

The environmental impact of the construction industry has left its mark on today’s society over the last decades, also in the Netherlands. In addition, the Dutch construction industry faces a major challenge in the replacement and renovation (V&R) task of the current infrastructure. Among others, many viaducts will be at the end of their functional lifespan. A transition to a closed resource loop along with the V&R task provides the Dutch construction industry an opportunity to extent the lifespan of elements and objects of end-of-life viaducts and reuse them in new viaducts while reducing the resource flow and its environmental impact. Although many circular initiatives and practices have been researched and developed by companies, there are still certain barriers that prevent the application of them to realise circular viaducts. The objective of this research is to identify the existing barriers that hinder a closed resource loop to enable circular viaducts in the construction industry and contribute to the circular transition.

The main barrier of circular innovations in the construction industry is the balance between supply (availability of materials) and demand (circular requirements in tenders). A sufficient volume of reusable elements must be created. Meanwhile, circular requirements are needed in tenders for the application of these elements in projects, proper assessment tools must be developed, and additional regulations and legislation is needed. In addition, there are still uncertainties with respect to the material specifications, ownership and warranty and the business case. Reusable elements are more expensive as they need to be harvested. Supply chains and collaboration form such as consortia are needed as portfolio contracts will become the new normal. Transparency is needed between the stakeholders in the industry and knowledge should be shared among parties.

A change in mindset is needed. Clients must be willing to pay more for circularity and market parties should accept the uncertainties of the transition. Additional roles and expertise’s are needed within the industry and supply chains must be organized.
Appropriate circular assessment tools have to developed, other design strategies of resource flows may assist the transition to a closed resource loop system, asset management, and additional client perspectives.