Regional environmental-economic assessment of building materials to promote circular economy: comparison of three Swiss cantons

Abstract

National policies are increasingly being introduced worldwide to establish a sustainable economy that includes principles of a circular economy (CE). The construction industry is particularly in focus with such policies, as it is responsible for almost 50% of the worldwide annual resource consumption and waste production. The Implementation of CE policies remains with local actors, and it is important to better understand the regional context of this transition to support policy- and decision-makers.This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of regional aspects of a CE and identify regional differences in the building materials industry. To identify these different boundary conditions, we formulate hypotheses, which we then test based on various regional case studies. We use an integrated assessment model to assess a regional industry in terms of environmental and economic indicators and combine Material-Flow-Analysis and Life-Cycle-Assessment using an input-output approach.The results suggest that imports and exports, especially in smaller regions, can hinder the implementation of CE. CE policies should therefore be developed for functional areas rather than political boundaries to effectively manage material flows. This is also in the light of environmental impacts. Consideration of inter-industry linkages in the industry shows that policies should be formulated specifically for the construction processes, as they have the greatest leverage for policy-induced changes within the industry. The financial analysis shows that incentives should be created to minimize the extraction of primary raw materials and to avoid the landfilling of demolition and excavation material.