This article from the world economic forum("build circular economy stop recycling")underline that circular economy is too often muddled up with some kind of advanced recycling process.
Modern office buildings typically involve long span floor plates that allow
fit out to be a flexible and non-structural part of the building, making it readily replaceable according to changing tenancy or floor space usage requirements. However, what often escapes recognition is that this replace-ability inherently involves cyclic demolition and strip-out, thus causing a sizable waste problem.Statistics reveal that landfilling is a ubiquitous issue with construction and demolition (C&D) waste across the globe, including developed countries as evidenced by 29 per cent in the USA, 35 per cent in China, 44 per cent in the UK and 44 per cent in Australia (Ajayi et al., 2016; DEFRA, 2013; Poon et al., 2001b; Wang et al., 2010).
The waste problem is a manifestation of the extent to which office fitout churn takes place.;
In a circular economy, resources do not end up as recyclables since products are made to last several lifecycles. Products’ lifespans are extended via maintain, repair, redistribute, refurbishment and/or re-manufacture loops, thus they never end up in the low-value, high-need-for-energy loop: recycling.
