Feature The circular economy THE WORLD KEEPS

The idea of a circular economy, where everything is built with re-use in mind and endlessly recycled, is gaining traction. As Katie Puckett reports, it presents a massive challenge for the industry — but also the opportunity to change the way we live. Illustration by Nick Lowndes.

IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE a manufacturer is happy to replace a product after 10 years, and not because there’s anything wrong with it, but simply because a better version has come on to the market. It may sound far-fetched but this is a serious idea proposed by some of construction’s soberest minds. It’s part of a concept that has become known as the “circular economy”, in which the link between economic prosperity and resource consumption is severed. In a circular economy, the traditional linear process of “take-make-dispose” is transformed into a closed loop where no resource is wasted and everything is reused or recycled. On one level, “waste not want not” is far

from a new idea. Swiss architect Walter Stahel fi rst propounded the economic benefi ts of a closed loop economy in the mid-1970s, and terms such as resource effi ciency, life cycle assessment, cradle to cradle (C2C) and the blue economy have since become familiar, to sustainability specialists at least. The construction sector has steadily been reducing the waste it sends to landfi ll for over a decade, and many manufacturers already

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operate take-back schemes for products at the end of their lives. But the circular economy goes further

than reducing waste to eliminating it altogether, extending the life of products, enabling them to be reused over and over again, and “upcycling” them to increase their value each time. Something about the circular economy seems to have captured the popular imagination, and there are signs that it is making the leap from deep-green niche to mainstream concern. As one of the world’s heaviest users of resources and producers of waste, construction is in the front line. But is a genuinely closed loop for building materials possible? Can construction products really be reused as easily as cans of coke or cars? Unlike many ideas about sustainability,

the circular economy appeals because it responds to a pressing concern for all industries: the increasing competition for resources. According to a report by management consultant McKinsey & Company — Towards a circular economy — rising commodity prices since 2000 have wiped out the real decline in prices that took place over the whole 20th

The circular economy appeals because it responds to a pressing concern for all industries: the increasing competition for resources.

century. With the global population continuing to grow and urbanise, and 3 billion new middle class consumers expected to enter the market by 2030, high prices and volatility will be here to stay unless action is taken, says the report. On the other hand, the European Union could save up to US$630bn each year by implementing circular economy principles, it says.

Finite resources The report was commissioned by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, established in 2010 to promote the circular economy, inspired by the round-the-world yachtswoman’s keen awareness of her fi nite resources at sea. Its founding partners were B&Q, BT, Cisco, National Grid and Renault and it has now signed up nearly 50 global companies to its business programme, the Circular Economy 100, including contractor BAM. Its campaign seems to be reaching critical mass. In July, the European Commission issued a proposal for a future EU directive, Towards a circular economy: A zero waste programme for Europe. This proposed a new target of recycling 70% of

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