Circular Economy Flashcards
(9 cards)
What industry is the largest consumer of raw materials?
The engineering and construction industry.
It accounts for 50% of global steel production and consumes more than 3bn tonnes of raw materials.
A circular economy would involve reshaping…
The way projects are procured, designed, constructed, operated and repurposed.
How do environmental consultants have an important role in achieving the sustainable Circular Economy of the future?
Through minimizing soil, water, air and noise pollution, and providing support to developers and designers to determine methods to minimize waste, promote resource efficiency and reduce project costs.
What is the most pressing challenge facing engineering consultancies in the immediate future?
With both the middle class and urban population growing alongside our inability, going forward, to sustainably rely on the increasingly scarce and expensive non-renewable resources upon which the vast majority of our infrastructure is currently supported, the most pressing challenge facing consultancies is how to begin to dissociate the industry from finite resource consumption.
What is creating a great demand for transformative change within the built environment?
Increasing greenhouse gas emissions (and subsequently global temperatures), pollution and pressures on landfill, in addition to unsustainable degrees of water extraction
Transformative change within the built environment is enforced by:
More stringent environmental standards and regulations that are making the extraction and usage of non-renewable resources more difficult and expensive
What will be involved in the shift in the built environment towards a circular economy?
Designing and planning for products all along the supply chain to be built to last and to be reused, repurposed and recycled, increasing asset lifecycles
What is the purpose of increasing asset lifecycles?
> Reducing resource waste, pollution and negative emissions
> Enhancing usage of renewable resources
> Increase resource cost efficiency
Re: the circular economy concept, consultancies have an important role in what?
> Innovative research,
> Design, planning, development, operation and maintenance of projects
> Informing the public and policy makers of these solutions in order to raise awareness and encourage positive change
