Evaluation of potential reuse and recycle of residential construction material in the city of Gothenburg

Abstract

According to the United Nations, cities house 56.2 percent of the worldwide population, with 23% of the global population expected to reside in cities by 2050. Cities play a vital role in the transition to a circular economy, and all stakeholders have a unique role in it. Cities have a large amount of secondary material stock in the form of built environment stock, such as buildings. The building industry currently generates one-third of all global waste. While the industry is notorious for the waste creation the businesses are stepping up their efforts to address the problem. The identified sustainable approaches to manage waste is by recovering stock through reuse, recycling from urban mines. The approach is to mine the existing material rather than extracting it. A city-wide circular framework to recycle and reuse not only reduces the number of raw resources used in the system, but also allows for sustainable consumption and waste reduction by looping the stock. Though the built environment in an urban ecosystem holds most of the material stock, the extent of mining in urban environments has yet to be explored. There is a huge possibility of using the waste as resource material and promoting circularity. While the strategic application of circular economy in the context of building stock is still in its infancy, the following study focuses on building a database of material and elements available in city of Gothenburg. It also predicts possible demolition of residential building over time and develops a material database with material and elements that will be available after possible demolition. The study quantifies the material and provides spatial information of material stock using digital tools. Finally, the study looks into future construction between 2035 to 2050 and maps the amount of different material and element required and available for the given time. The study reimagines city of Gothenburg as circular resource systems through reuse and recycle of residential construction materials. It also presents the location of material and elements for circular construction process with the aim to reduce resource extraction while promoting sustainable infrastructure development.