A decisive boost towards a circular economy in construction: combined policies, stronger markets, and new digital tools can transform construction waste into high-value resources.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) report analyses how the European Union can promote reuse and high-quality recycling of construction and demolition waste, a stream that represents nearly 40% of all waste generated in the EU. Although the European target of recovering 70% of non-hazardous waste has already been surpassed, much of this percentage comes from low-quality recycling and backfilling, meaning the circular potential remains underused.
The document identifies two main obstacles: the constant increase in waste volumes linked to linear construction processes, and the low economic value of many materials, especially non-metals. Added to this are cultural barriers, lack of training, and still, undeveloped secondary markets.
The study reviews the policies applied in Member States and in reference countries such as Japan or the United Kingdom, highlighting consolidated practices such as pre-demolition audits, selective demolition, and extended producer responsibility schemes. It also underscores the role of economic instruments — landfill taxes, PAYT tariffs or primary resource levies — and emerging tools such as digital building passports.
The JRC proposes a combination of regulatory, economic, and informational measures to harmonise practices, stimulate secondary materials markets, and advance towards more circular management of Europe’s built environment.
