Circular Economy Through Circular Procurement
In Australia and New Zealand, the construction industry contributes to approximately a quarter and 20% of the country's Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas emissions respectively. In Australia, over 6 million tonnes of construction waste is disposed in landfills each year and in New Zealand, construction and demolition waste constitute up to 50% of the country's landfill. This means that construction procurement plays a great role and responsibility in curbing climate change.
Studies suggest that if construction procurement transitions to a circular economy, it can:
Reduce Australia’s Scope 1-3 carbon emissions by
165M tonnes/yr
Thinking sustainably
Circular procurement encourages all in the supply chain to consider materials efficiency, design out waste and pollution, choose materials that can achieve a longer life cycle, utilise materials with recycled content, and designing for reuse. Several projects and initiatives in Victoria are leading in this space, such as the world's first recycled plastic noise walls for Mordialloc Freeway and the Level Crossing Removal Projects. eMesh, for instance, won the tender to introduce fully recycled Macro Synthetic Fibre in the concrete of and footpaths of the Bell To Moreland Level Crossing Removal Project (B2M LXRP).
In many recent construction projects, Victoria have also awarded contracts to suppliers that use recycled glass and plastic from beer bottles and chocolate wrappers in their sand mix and asphalt.
