This article first appeared in my LinkedIn newsletter: The Sustainable Business. Join the conversation there!
In late June, Rheaply had the opportunity to collaborate with Closed Loop Partners and their innovation arm, The Center for the Circular Economy, on a new research project funded by 3M – Better Buildings Key Drivers for Constructing a Circular Built Environment in the U.S. If you haven’t read it, it’s a must!
Here’s a few highlights from the report that stood out:
- The importance of adaptive reuse – did you know a new, energy efficient building construction can take 80 years to offset the emissions from construction? Google’s transformation of a 1930s rail terminal structure in New York City is a prime example for adaptive reuse in the field.
- Innovative design strategies such as biophilic design, Design for Deconstruction (check out the examples like R.W. Kern Center at Hampshire College, and Marriott’s modular hotels), material product passports, Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) design and Building Information Modeling (BIM) to support the maintenance, use and management of buildings.
- The policy levers in the U.S. for transitioning the economy toward a more circular built environment.
Policy plays a vital role in driving progress toward a circular economy, which is why I want to highlight more on that last point above. I often get asked, whether it’s in speaker panels, interviews, investor circles, and just general conversations, ‘what are the U.S. governmental policies that could drive progress towards circularity’?
The goal of this article isn’t to urge government representatives to enact new policies to move toward a circular economy or provide solutions for policymakers (The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has a great new report on that). Rather, my goal is to provide a glossary of the U.S. public policies and funding that’s available in the U.S. todaythat can directly move the needle on circular economy progress. While not an exhaustive list, I will also share what I think we can learn from a few different policies and initiatives in European and Latin American countries.
For a full download on these policy levers that include federal and state mandates for embodied carbon, I encourage you to check out chapter 2 in the Closed Loop report above!
Glossary of U.S. policies to support the transition to a circular built environment
Federal
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)
Provides $275 million (ending in 2026) of Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grants authorized under the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act. When created, it was the largest investment in recycling in 30 years at the time (Link).
The CHIPS Act
$160 million is up for grabs through the National Science Foundation to fund technology and manufacturing hubs (due by February 2025). Recently a University of Kentucky research team was awarded $1M for advancing carbon centric circular economy technologies in manufacturing.
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
With $300 billion in energy and climate programs, it’s certainly the most talked about – and polarizing – climate investment in history. However, Section 60503 of the IRA includes a $2.15 billion investment for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to acquire and install low-embodied carbon (LEC) construction materials. There’s also a guidebook that goes into further information on funding available to revitalize American manufacturing, recycling and reuse programs within federal buildings (more on this topic in a bit). If you’re interested in the topic of low-embodied carbon, Rheaply has a great guest blog piece on low carbon interior materials written by our friend Jack Rusk at EHDD.
Federal-State Buy Clean Partnership
With 12 states committed —California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington—and most recently Minnesota, this is a great step forward for the industry but there are clear areas for improvement: for example, there is no focus on reuse in the context of low embodied carbon materials, something that will need to change if we’re to meet the IPCC target of 40% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030. The best way for Federal-State agencies to “buy clean” is reuse bought materials and not buy at all.
And earlier today in support of this initiative, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of 38 grant recipients across the country, totaling nearly $160 million, to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products.
Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service (P100)
Relevant to General Services Administration (GSA)-owned facilities, earlier in June GSA released the 2024 update to the P100,including important new additions addressing low embodied carbon materials, decarbonization, and circularity. Emphasis is now on the importance ofregenerative materials, including “reusing and improving buildings by designing for resiliency, adaptability, disassembly, and reuse,” and a salvage assessment for demolition projects.
State
NYS Buy Clean Concrete and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)
The NYS Buy Clean Concrete guidelines provide an opportunity to reduce negative environmental impacts by transforming the project delivery process and intend to increase the use and innovation of low-carbon concrete in state procurement projects. The Federal Highway Administration defines an EPD as a “transparent, third-party verified report that communicates the impacts from resource use, energy and emissions.”
California New Building Codes Target Embodied Carbon Reduction
California has implemented pioneering changes to its building codes, as the first state to Adopt Mandatory Measures in Building Codes to Reduce Embodied Carbon. Effective July 1, 2024, these regulations will now cover large commercial and school projects, setting statewide standards that target greenhouse gas emissions from building materials throughout their life cycles. These measures offer three compliance paths: reusing existing structures, selecting low-emission materials, or using performance-based assessments. Spearheaded by the American Institute of Architects California, this initiative marks a cultural shift towards sustainable building practices, crucial for meeting California’s ambitious decarbonization goals.
City
NYC Circular Construction Guidelines and Clean Constructive Executive Order
Embodied carbon is ‘the next frontier’ of New York City’s decarbonization efforts, and reuse is front and center. Some of the recommendations of the NYC Circular Construction Guidelines developed from Mayor Adams’ Executive Order 23are to: (1) Adapt and transform existing buildings and infrastructure (2) Carefully consider all spaces to be included in the project (3) Refuse of unnecessary components (4) Use bio-based materials and low embodied carbon materials (5) Set targets and track material use, reuse and recycling (6) Increase material efficiency and Design for longevity, adaptability and disassembly.
San Antonio’s Deconstruction Ordinance
While there are plenty of examples of forward-thinking cities known for having established deconstruction ordinances or programs (Portland, Seattle, San Francisco), in 2023, the San Antonio City Council passed the city’s first deconstruction ordinance which aims to reduce construction and demolition waste, and increase the availability of reclaimed and excess building materials for local reuse. The City of San Antonio is reimagining the way we design, construct, use and reuse buildings for a circular future. The goal is to reinvigorate the local workforce in construction, heritage trades, and deconstruction, in order to improve equity of building material access. Rheaply is partnering with the San Antonio Material Innovation Center to enable the reuse of furniture, fixtures, equipment and construction materials into feedstock for low-waste construction projects.
Foreign countries and cities ahead of the curve – and what we can learn
It’s no secret that the United States lacks a comprehensive Circular Economy Action Plan like the European Union, but there are some great examples and lessons learned from the nations leading the charge – including the importance of setting numeric targets and activating federal Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws.
Finland’s Circular Economy Roadmap The very first country to adopt a circular economy initiative in 2016, the Finnish government set the floor for the rest of the world, with a goal to be a global leader in the circular economy by 2025. The ambition to be the first is admirable, as is the willingness to promote an economy that fits the limits of our natural systems. This article does an excellent job of showcasing how Finland can improve moving forward and the lessons learned that often come with being first: the importance of setting clear numeric targets, developing new end markets, and meeting the wave of new innovation with sorting and collection resources.
National Circular Economy Strategies (ENEC) in Latin America
Just last month, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil signed the country’s first National Circular Economy Strategy (ENEC). Based on three pillars – elimination of waste, circulation of materials and regeneration of nature – the strategy will eventually focus on creating sector-specific long-term plans for the economy. Brazil is the latest Latin American country to position its strategy around a circular economy, much like Chile and Costa Rica‘s commitments. And Uruguay, with its 2030 carbon neutral goal, passed an Integral Waste Management Law in 2019, which aims to enhance waste management practices with a focus on sustainability and environmental protection, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws to hold producers accountable for managing their products’ waste, mandates for giving a second life to waste, and the recovery and valorization chain of materials.
City of Amsterdam’s Circular Action Plan
With 70 measures to reduce waste, avoid the use of virgin materials, promote refuse, reuse, repurpose and repair, Amsterdam aims to transition into a circular city by 2050, emphasizing sustainability and resource efficiency. The strategy involves reducing new material use by 50% by 2030through initiatives across sectors like consumer goods, the built environment, and organic waste.
Sweden’s Circular Economy Action Plan
Sweden is known for its innovative waste management and recycling systems through incineration, (less than 1% of trash is landfilled by converting waste to energy through incineration) and European countries pay Sweden to convert 1.9 million tons of waste per year to stored energy. Ironically, because of this waste infrastructure advantage, the circular use of material in Sweden in 2021 was down to 6.6% compared to the EU’s average of 11.7%, prompting more legislation.
Germany’s Circular Economy Strategy
A leader in circular economy and materials management for the industrial economy, Germany is building legislation off of EU’s landmark Critical Raw Materials Act (CRM), and aims to reduce the annual per capita consumption of raw materials from 15 tons to 8 tons by 2045; doubling the share of circular materials used from 2021 to 2030.
Share how you’re moving the needle on circularity policy
Beyond these examples above, I encourage you to share any legislation around waste management, materials or rare earth minerals collection, and other circular initiatives that I’m sure I missed – especially at the state and local levels.
And, where legislation might not exist today, what is your company doing to fill the void?
