Circular economy in construction

Eurac Research wants to support companies use raw materials as sustainably as possible

Credit: Eurac Research | Ludovica Galeazzi

02 October 2024

The construction industry in Trentino-South Tyrol produces three million tons of waste annually. Not all of it is garbage since many of the materials are valuable and could be reused. This is where the concept of the circular economy and the Eurac Research Circular-Lab come into play.

Every year, over three million tons of construction and demolition waste (CDW) are generated in the Trentino-South Tyrol region. Before this waste can be recycled, these materials must be laboriously separated. About half of this waste is mixed and comes from construction: stones, plaster, wallpaper, pipes, cable scraps, scrap metal and various glass, wood and plastic waste; another quarter is asphalt, followed by cement and excavated soil.

At least some of this could be avoided if the life cycle of components and products could be extended – which would not only be more sustainable but also economically advantageous. But to what extent are companies in South Tyrol interested in this? And where specifically do they see obstacles and opportunities? To find out, Martino Gubert, an engineer and researcher at the Institute for Renewable Energy, conducted interviews with local companies that work in the wood, window or facade construction industry.

His main aim was to understand the extent to which the companies are interested in reusing used materials and where they see possibilities for the application of circular economy processes in their products and systems.

“These discussions were very important for us because they gave us an insight into the logic of the companies and thus helped us to align our consulting services with the needs of the construction companies,” says Martino Gubert.

Martino Gubert with a dismantled wooden facade

Credit: Eurac Research | Ludovica Galeazzi

The survey showed that companies are generally interested and open to the topic and helped to pinpoint some of their concerns: legal uncertainty, regulatory barriers, doubts about quality, performance, guarantees, market demand and cost-benefit calculations as well as a lack of incentives and logistics. There was great interest in training and further education opportunities in the field of circular economy, as well as in potential improvements in product design and manufacturing to make them circular. Many interviewees also see potential in production lines that reduce waste and scrap in the manufacturing phase. Specific labels certifying circular products and materials were also met with approval.

What is circular economy?

To explain what is actually meant by the circular economy, it is often contrasted with the opposite approach, known as linear economy which can be described as ‘take-make-waste’. This system usually works as follows: goods are produced, brought to market, used and then thrown away. Many products have a very short use life and the majority of them ultimately become waste – only a very small proportion of the raw materials they are made from are reused.

“Circular economy is a model of consumption and production,” explains Gubert. “It is about reusing existing materials for as long as possible, reintroducing them into the cycle, eventually after a reprocessing, and extending the life of these products by sharing, passing on or repairing them.” And when a product has reached the end of its useful life, it is dismantled in such a way that the resources and materials can remain in the economy as much as possible. They are therefore reused productively over and over again to continue creating value. “This means that this process should ideally be planned as early as the product development phase. In any case, it increases the possibilities for reuse if a product is planned and built in such a way that it can be easily disassembled,” says Gubert from experience.

“Designing and building a product in such a way that it can be easily disassembled increases the possibilities for reuse.”
Martino Gubert, researcher at the Institute for Renewable Energy

The so-called R principles of circular economy illustrate a wide range of possibilities:

refuse unnecessary products;
rethink the entire life cycle of products;
reduce the consumption of materials;
reuse what you can;
repair defective products;
refurbish by bringing obsolete devices up to date;
remanufacture by using parts of defective products to manufacture new ones;
repurpose by finding new uses for old products;
recycle materials to the production cycle through to avoid new raw materials;
recover by utilizing materials that can no longer be recycled.

Materials that fail to enter these Rs end up in landfills. The ultimate goal of the circular economy is to minimize as much as possible what becomes waste in landfills, acting in each case on the highest possible R to extend the life of the product/material.

Sustainable and circular construction

The construction sector’s high consumption of resources makes it all the more important to build more circular buildings that are easy to maintain, can be used for a long time and can be dismantled for high-quality reuse at the end of their service life.

The research team at the Institute for Renewable Energy is initially focusing on three areas: windows, facades and timber construction. “We have deliberately focused on companies that manufacture construction components and systems. In South Tyrol, for example, there are a relatively large number of companies that manufacture windows. There is great potential for circular economy processes here because they can be considered at both the stage when components are being planned and installed,” explains Gubert.