TLJ#3 - Integrating circ. economy in construction contracts

How to promote and support the integration of the circular economy in construction contracts for a better management of construction waste?

This question guided INERTWASTE partners and stakeholders throughout the third Transnational Learning Journey of the project. The host, Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Region Sud), prepared a full programme including presentation of relevant good practices at international and local level, interactive exchange on the French situation, a working session on how to increase the circular flow of waste, and two study visits to understand how recycling of inert waste is done in practice by operators.

The numerous discussions during all these sessions led to the following conclusions:

1. Reused or recycled materials are not yet competitive enough compared to virgin materials. Public procurement can help overcome this and drive the market to take up these secondary materials. Regional circular economy strategies are also a useful instrument to increase the demand for these materials.
2. The construction sector is a conservative sector and therefore there is a lot of resistance and skepticism towards secondary materials. A lot of testing and pilot projects can help overcome this resistance and convince practitioners and operators about the viability and sustainability of these materials. Fostering continuous dialogue with control authorities and other stakeholders in the supply chain can also help unlock the transition.
3. Interregional exchange is a useful tool to gather new perspectives, but it is sometimes not easy to implement the suggestions received by partners and stakeholders due to a lack of regulatory power and fragmentation of laws and regulations on construction and demolition waste at different levels (EU, regional, local).

TLJs are the opportunity for partners and stakeholders to exchange on specific topics but also a moment for the host to receive feedback on its own situation and policy instruments. This time, partners and stakeholders got to learn more about Region Sud’s policies fostering the revalorisation of construction and inert waste through a quiz. After that, they provided feedback and shared suggestions for improvement. For example, they recommended setting mandatory objective of 90% recovery of natural soils, promote synergies between companies (such as a marketplace to promote exchange of by-products), have people reuse materials by repaying them in cash or other incentives. You can read more about Region Sud here.

The TLJ was followed by an additional bilateral meeting between Region Sud (FR) and Navarra (ES). The purpose of this meeting was for the Navarra delegation to collect further information on some of the good practices and regulations presented by Region Sud. The input gathered during this bilateral visit will help Navarra advance the reflections on the improvement of its own policy instrument.

Presentations

• Looking for valorisation alternatives for the biomass bottom ash in road construction | ACCIONA  – Juan José CEPRIÁ
• Obligatory deposition of waste from public construction projects in Maribor | NIGRAD – Borut JURIŠIĆ & Marko KAK (Regional Development Agency for Podravje – Maribor)
• Reuse of decommissioned wind turbine blades in building constructions | SMARTpanels  – focus on PUR insulation -Jens MØLLER
• Tender with recycling in mind.  | Friis Andersen Architect  – Dan TELLEFSEN
• The Net Zero Public Sector Standard: Lessons learned since 2021 (Zero Waste Scotland)
• Operational progress on the implementation of extended producer responsibility for the free take-back of construction waste | VALOBAT – Jérôme D’ASSIGNY
• Manufacture of low-carbon cements and concretes from steelworks slag | ECOCEM / ARCELOR MITTAL – Florent MICHEL / Diane ACHARD
• Construction of a building made of large compressed earth blocks and natural concrete blocks, manufactured using geo-sourced earth on the site, for the Charleval town health centre. | FILIATER – Marc MINGUCCI
• Circular economy approaches to developing an urban project of national interest: Euroméditerranée. | EUROMEDITERRANÉE – Brice CHANDON
• How to promote and support the integration of the circular economy in construction contracts for a better management of construction waste? - LIFE SMART WASTE Project | Region Sud - Marine ABADIE & Barbara CHOLLEY
• French policy instrument improvement
• Introducing INERTWASTE

Study visits

• EUROVIA / MAT’ILD (Gardanne)

Sorting centre for construction waste and waste from economic activities, massification and collection centre for the PMCB EPR scheme for building construction materials, and professional waste collection centre and inert waste recycling centre.

• EUROVIA / MAT’ILD Calcaires Régionaux (Fos-sur-mer)

Sorting centre for machefers from household waste incineration plants and production of machefers aggregates and lego blocks.