The construction industry is responsible for large quantities of construction and demolition waste and almost 50% of the worldwide annual resource consumption, putting the environment, its natural resources, and ecosystems under high pressure. Therefore, governments are implementing regional policies that support a circular economy (CE). But how do we know whether these developments will lead to a shift toward a CE on a regional scale? How can we identify hotspots in a value chain and regional economy to support decision‐makers and to develop regional policies? We propose an integrated assessment method that considers indicators for environmental impacts and economic benefits by combining Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with Input‐Output Analysis (IOA) as the connecting element. It provides the necessary data and indicators for a holistic and comprehensive evaluation of a region or industry. We demonstrate its benefits and limitations taking the Swiss canton of Aargovia as an example. We analyze which processes in the material flow system of construction minerals are decisive for formulating mass‐related or financial policies encouraging a CE. We show that a shift toward a CE can only be captured by combining material and money flows in a joined model, because a significant increase of services—mainly waste management—is a core element in this development. It can only be covered sufficiently by combining environmental and economic assessment. Our model captures the degree to which a regional economy is advanced in the transition toward a CE to compare different regions or analyze scenarios of future developments.
Keyword LCA • sustainable economy • transition • decision-making • policy • circular economy 1. How can decision-makers use life cycle-based approaches to boost sustainable decisions? 2. Which life cycle-based approaches are best suited to reveal opportunities and risks for sustainability within the different economic sectors? 3. Which instruments are most useful for combining environmental, economic, and societal aims?These issues were additionally discussed in bilateral sessions, where experts exchanged their knowledge in Communicated by Matthias Finkbeiner.
Traditionally, gravel, cement and concrete producers focus on their role as material or resource suppliers. The higher the material turnover, the higher the economic success. Hence, the business-model conflicts with the societal goal of increased resource efficiency. Driven by stricter regulations, companies started to extend their business models with additional services in waste management and logistics. In the research project “Co-Evolution of Business Strategies in material and construction industries and public policies” the most relevant business-models of gravel, cement and concrete producers in Switzerland are identified based on case studies of ten different companies. The analysis reveals how these business-models differ with regards to value added, resource consumption and CO2-emissions. To analyse the relevance of the different business-models on regional scale, an assessment model is developed based on Material Flow Analysis. It is used to analyse the value chain of construction minerals in an alpine region and its effect on value added, resource consumption, waste generation and CO2-emissions. A comparison between the results of both analyses – companies scale versus regional scale – reveals how alternative business-models could affect resource management and economic development on a regional scale and which types of business-models accelerate or hinder the transition towards a sustainable built environment. The study will show, that it is essential to identify alternative business models in the building materials industry and understand their impacts on the use of primary and secondary resources. In this paper, we identify two business models, which, at first glance, seems identical as they produce and sell concrete and gravel, but show that the success of a business model highly depends on the source for raw-materials (gravel pit, river extraction or processing excavated materials with high gravel content), the possibility to landfill excavated material and the resulting effects on resource consumption.
The research project focused on investigating and optimizing the processing and use of recycled crushed sand 0/4 from concrete demolition waste, as an alternative raw material in the cement and concrete industry. Crushed sand is produced during the processing of concrete demolition waste. The goal was to identify the optimum way of using the processed material along the entire process chain so that greenhouse gas emissions, waste volumes are reduced, and natural resources are conserved. Different samples of laboratory and real crushed concrete fines were collected and examined in relation to various possible applications in accordance with the applicable standards. Results highlight, that crushed concrete fines can be used in various applications in the concrete value-chain. However, for an optimal usage, additional processing is needed.
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