The Federal Government has released the National Circular Economy Framework, laying out a pathway to a more sustainable economy.
The new framework offers businesses guidance and examples to help reduce waste and emissions, and outlines priority sectors: industry, the built environment, agriculture and food and resources. It also sets out a goal of double circularity by 2035.
According to the National Circular Economy Framework, the built environment accounts for a third of resource consumption globally and is the primary destination for materials in Australia.
In 2020–21, construction and demolition activities alone generated 29 megatonnes (Mt) of waste, making it the largest (and fastest-growing) source of materials received and processed in recycling and waste reuse systems.
The Federal Government’s framework finds that the built environment represents the most significant opportunity for Australia to decrease material footprint and drive uptake of circular, sustainable materials. It is also an opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through circular economy practices.
The framework outlines two key priorities for the sector:
- Refurbishing and adaptive reuse: These circular strategies extend the life of existing buildings, reducing waste and emissions from demolition, while saving time and resources. One example is the Quay Quarter tower refurbishment which saved 12,000 tonnes of embodied carbon (equivalent of two years of operational emissions from building services) and 12 months in construction time compared to a full rebuild.
- Manufacture and use of circular, low-carbon and climate-resilient construction materials: The use of sustainable construction materials, including green steel and recycled content, is expected to grow rapidly. The government’s Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy is set to increase demand for recycled content and circular goods and services in the sector including construction services and fit outs of building interiors.
The framework states that enablers for the circular economy are embedding the circular economy in new builds, developing recycled content markets and better design.
Read the full framework here.
