Two Cerema presentations on the circular economy in the field of construction and public works at the European Forum on Circular Economy

A reflection must also be carried out on also be carried out on the materials needed for the construction or development. In this context, the regulations set a minimum percentage for the incorporation of maintenance sites, a minimum share of incorporation of materials resulting from the reuse or recycling of waste.

To facilitate proposals for materials from reuse and recycling, the obligation or the possibility of proposing a variant can be written into the contracts. Also, the need in materials or products can be written in terms of performance and not in terms of typology or origin.

Through its knowledge elements upstream of the work, the client can detail the policy that it wishes to carry out for the building site without restricting the competition.

This includes defining the reuse and recycling objectives. recycling. To achieve these objectives, the contracts must integrate the elements concerning :

• The organization of the (selective deconstruction, sorting, type of treatment, temporary storage, etc.).

• The priorities given reuse and recycling.

• The controls of performance of reused materials, outgoing waste and incoming materials from recycling.

• The traceability of waste and materials resulting from reuse, re-employment and recycling.

The type of market selected can also be facilitator for the implementation of a circular economy. Specific procedures can simplify the process and allow for negotiation. In particular, experimental contracts can be drafted to test the reuse or the use of alternative materials by calling for innovative proposals from companies.

The mineral resources resulting from the rehabilitation of wasteland at the service of the economy of the building and public works sector

The second intervention by Aymeric Perrin, in charge of circular economy studies, aimed at presenting the Cerema's forthcoming guide "Optimizing the management of mineral resources from the rehabilitation of wastelands". in partnership with the INDURA cluster as part of the IDfriches program, it will be published in fall.

In a context where we are trying to reduce the artificialization of soils, wastelands constitute a land reservoir that communities are led to rehabilitate, but which often require major deconstruction work and which generate a production of mineral waste, for which they are responsible.

The law now requires to reduce the use of raw materials to a minimum and to rehash 70% of waste from the construction industry. The objective is to use :

• priority to resources resources from recycling or renewable sources,

• and recyclable resources,

• and finally to take into account the analysis of the life cycle (evaluation of the environmental impact of materials over their entire lifespan) of other types of resources.

The guide deals in particular with concretes, asphalt mixes, excavated bituminous mixes, excavated earth, mineral wools flat glass, plaster and clay products. It part of these materials can be reused by integrating the circular economy into the deconstruction and reconstruction operations of brownfields.

The guide aims to accompany the evolution of practices in this field: it presents to project owners the approach to follow during the preliminary studies for the rehabilitation of a wasteland, in order to promote the circular economy of mineral resources.

The project owner implements the economy approach from the preparation phase with the realization of a diagnosis of available resources: What are the areas of reuse of the various materials? What are the recycling or recovery solutions? Who are the local stakeholders? Which additional studies are necessary for their recovery?

The diagnosis of resources allows to anticipate upstream solutions for reuse, recycling or recovery, and to identify the stakeholders and users of recovered materials.

The role of the project owner in the management of the site is also important: For example, the site must be planned according to different stages of deconstruction, by storage areas or the installation of mobile treatment units.

The project owner also integrates the criteria in the contracts for various contracts for various lots. As a producer of waste, they are responsible for it until its final disposal or recovery (waste tracking register, traceability, sorting at source, respect of treatment standards...)

The guide is divided into 4 parts and provides information on on :

• The regulatory framework, in particular the obligations related to the law of transition for green growth (LTECV) of 2015, the anti-waste and circular economy law (AGEC) of 2020 and the environmental code.

• The responsibilities of the project owners, who are the producers of the waste and who play an essential role in the implementation of a circular economy approach.

• Mineral resources, by means of operational sheets that specify their location on the wasteland, the possibilities of reuse, as well as the recycling channels.

• The cost of managing mineral resources, to evaluate the financial impact of treatment to be done on site or in dedicated facilities.