Circular business cases in the MRA for construction and demolition

In 2018, New Economy, in collaboration with Metabolic, conducted an inventory for the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA) of the opportunities for urban mining of residual flows in Construction & Demolition and e-waste, as well as ways to utilize these residual flows effectively. This resulted in an annual economic potential of €688 million in Construction & Demolition and €144 million in e-waste. New Economy and Metabolic have a database developed with the most promising substreams from both chains, such as recovered wood, insulation material, or printed circuit boards and the materials stored within them. Based on this, concrete and promising business cases were formulated and a calculation model was developed, which was subsequently made public. Together, this provides a good overview of the potential for high-quality utilization of residual streams from Construction & Demolition and E-waste. Both reports are here to consult.

Pepijn Duijvestein, director of New Economy: “It's important to understand which streams can create new, viable revenue models and thus contribute to the MRA's goal of becoming one of the most circular metropolitan regions in Europe. Together with entrepreneurs from both within and outside the region, we've calculated which solutions and technologies are suitable for valorizing various residual streams from the construction and e-waste chains. This is an essential and concrete next step in scaling up the circular economy in the MRA.”

Gerard Roemers (Metabolic): “"With the public database, the value stored in the built environment is visible to everyone. The potential for value retention is clear! The data demonstrates that financial value creation and achieving the objectives of the National Raw Materials Agreement and the Paris Agreement are easily reconciled!"”

Jolein Baidenmann (Amsterdam Metropolitan Region): “It's crucial for governments to understand the obstacles facing businesses so they can remove them wherever possible. This is a key goal of the MRA: enabling circular business and encouraging the reuse of materials.”

Read more about all developments within the MRA here.

Construction calculation model: polluting fractions

Construction calculation model: turning wood back into wood

Construction calculation model: high-quality insulation reuse

Calculation model Construction: plaster