The built environment is also responsible for 15% of this country's greenhouse gas emissions.
To eliminate waste throughout the construction process, we need to transition from a ‘take-make-waste’ linear economy to a circular one. We need to design out waste from the get go and recognise ‘waste’ as a resource, rather than rubbish.
The Construction Sector Accord (the Accord) and the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) are partnering to work with the building industry. The aim is to eliminate construction material waste in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In April 2023, we hosted a one-day workshop exploring how we can build out waste across the construction value chain. It brought together nearly 50 representatives from across all areas of the construction sector, including local and central government. We published a report providing an overview of the workshop findings, including key opportunities to reduce waste and maximise material usage.
The workshop identified priority areas for action. As a result, Action Groups were formed to work on accelerating circular construction practices in three key areas: Product stewardship, reverse logistics and integrated design processes.
On 10th October, we held a seminar to explore how we can leverage the power of design to build out waste. We heard about the bad (instances where waste has been designed into the construction process) as well as the good (projects where waste and carbon have been designed out). We also learnt about effective on-site practices and products and services that enable reuse and waste minimisation.
