Business case

Providing residential and non-residential construction services, such as architectural, engineering, planning, real-estate, contracting, and inspection services

Construction and Real Estate Services

Producing building materials and finished and semi-finished building products for construction

Construction Materials and Products

Enacting measures that optimise material use such as 3D printing, etc.

Material efficiency

Activities to clean, decorate, and restore products back to working condition for original or new purposes

Refurbishment, remanufacturing, renovation

Selling high quality, long-lasting products

Sale of durable, long-lasting goods

Selling parts of modular products that can be exchanged or replaced

Sale of exchangeable parts

Designing products so they produce as little waste as possible during production

Design for minimal waste

Engaging in discussions with government bodies and policymakers to push for regulations that support the circular economy

Advocacy for circular economy policy

Facilitate discussions and meetings between internal team members to identify circular opportunities

Dialogue with internal stakeholders

Provide guidance or professional training to educate employees to use circular economy principles

Training on the circular economy

Make collected and sorted recyclables available for use by citizens, small businesses up to large scale industrial processes. 

Use recyclables

Other

Industries

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The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

Urban Opportunities

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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  This research jointly written by Arup and BAM explores ways Circular Business Models (CBMs) would provide added benefits throughout the value chain in construction.
By highlighting the value proposition to all stakeholders, it is intended that more companies will see the benefit of a built environment based on the circular economy. Circular Business Models cannot be achieved without intervention, as in today’s economy there are numerous examples of where it is currently perceived as more cost effective and convenient to dispose of resources after their first use rather than re-use them. By taking a systemic view across the whole life cycle of assets, using new technologies and applying advance design approaches, additional value could be created. This value will demonstrate an economic business case for adopting CBMs, as well as providing wider global benefits from a financial, social and environmental standpoint. Funders, owners and occupiers will be fundamental to driving a ‘circular built environment’, by choosing to adopt alternative development strategies, ownerships structures and operations models. However architects, designers, engineers, suppliers, contractors and facilities managers will have a crucial role in creating circular solutions to facilitate a move to CBMs.

The content of this report is applicable to the built environment as a whole, but many of the examples cited focus on commercial building developments. The general principles are the same for other project types, i.e. infrastructure/PPP, although the use periods, ownership models and supply chain interactions differ accordingly.

Arup is an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, architects, consultants and technical specialists, working across every aspect of today’s built environment.

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ARUP

Royal BAM Group nv is a construction firm with operating companies in five European markets (the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany). BAM’s operating companies are active in the business lines Construction and Property, Civil engineering, as well as in Public-private partnerships.

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This research jointly written by Arup and BAM explores ways Circular Business Models (CBMs) would provide added benefits throughout the value chain in construction.

Circular Business Models for the Built Environment 

Producing building materials and providing services to create residential and non-residential infrastructure and real estate


Construction and Infrastructure

Account for the systems perspective during the design process, to use the right materials, to design for appropriate lifetime and to design for extended future use

Design for the future

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

 Develop research, structure knowledge, encourage innovation networks and disseminate findings with integrity


Strengthen and advance knowledge

    BAM Construction Scotland is introducing its small and medium sized enterprise (SME) designers and supply chain to the free support services offered by Resource Efficient Scotland to help reduce overall project waste and improve financial performance.      Through a focussed approach to waste BAM Construction Scotland has identified the following potential opportunities to date through collaborative working with four of its small and medium enterprise (SME) supply chain partners:

Significant material and waste cost savings
Prevention of 120,184 tonnes of waste arisings
Reduction of raw material consumption by 2,692 tonnes
Carbon savings of over 176 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents
 BAM Construction Ltd. (BAM) designs, constructs, refurbishes and operates buildings for public and private sector clients, and for its own portfolio of properties. We started our conversation with them at a Supply Chain School event. They’ve had the foresight to recognise that improving waste practices through collaborative working with their SME supply chain and designers could potentially result in significant savings for not only itself as the lead contractor but also for their clients.
Our programme has already helped five SME designers identify significant financial, waste and carbon savings on BAM Scotland projects through our facilitated “Designing out construction waste” workshops. The workshops provided the framework for BAM Scotland and individual SMEs to examine the future requirements on each build and design solutions to prevent waste arisings throughout the intended life cycle.
Material optimisation strategies identified include material switching for 100% recyclable alternatives and using more robust materials to reduce the number of replacements required over the lifespan of a project. Additional significant savings were found in redesigning a building on one site to work more closely with the natural levels around it, preventing the need for large soil excavation and the associated disposal costs.
From the five SMEs currently supported, significant savings from avoided material purchase and waste disposal costs were identified. Across the five projects we’ve also identified ways to:

prevent 120,184 tonnes of waste arisings
reduce raw material consumption by 2,692 tonnes and
prevent 176 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents

BAM Scotland has made a commitment to repeat the designing out waste workshop activity at strategic points within the design process to ensure that actions identified are being followed through.
Recognising that identifying waste opportunities at the design stage is just the first step, the company is now in the process of highlighting our free on-site opportunity assessments to its SME supply chain. On-site support can help identify where opportunities lie to improve general working practices, procurement decisions, material choices and material handling. In addition we can help SMEs to identify savings not only for the project they are working on but also within their own organisations, extending all the way back to their own facilities and on future projects.
At a strategic level, BAM Scotland recognises the importance of waste data measurement, recording and comparison in trying to prevent and manage waste on projects. As such it will be looking at the commercial cost, waste and material and CO2 savings achieved as a result of all support activities in comparison to those predicted at the design stage. Future changes will be implemented across its sites based on the outcomes. Results will be compared with historic waste information held in a customised BRE SMaRTWaste programme BAM SMaRT – a database that enables the company to assess its efficiency performance against waste production targets and other strategic and project KPIs. As a lead contractor, BAM Scotland is committed to sharing its identified learnings with its supply chain and helping to drive improvement and efficiency on all projects.
BAM Scotland has found the knowledge and information available through our service to be a great asset to both itself and all the SMEs it works with. The direct support to its SME supply chain and the indirect support available through our website and free guides and tools have provided valuable guidance with removing all potential barriers to taking action. Our Waste Prevention Innovation Fund and SME Loan Fund may also help SMEs in BAM Scotland’s supply chain implement any identified solutions through loans and grants of up to £100k available per company.

‘The support provided to our supply chain by the service has allowed us to drive efficiencies throughout our working practices and find the potential to make significant savings. We’d like our suppliers to share in this benefit too.’ says Michael Shields, Systems & Environmental Manager at BAM Construction Ltd.

How we can help underpin cost savings for your business
You don’t need to be a small or medium business to realise savings. By helping your SME supply chain partners and sub-contractors become more resource efficient, lead contractors can see improvements in cost, waste and carbon savings. Email the team to discuss how your business or project could work with Zero Waste Scotland to receive specialist support and advice.
Our free service to Scottish businesses is funded by the Scottish Government and by the European Regional Development Fund through the £73 million Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Accelerator Programme.The support provided to this organisation was delivered by Zero Waste Scotland’s Resource Efficient Scotland programme, which has been relaunched as Zero Waste Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Business Support Service as of 1 April 2020.
     

Zero Waste Scotland exists to lead Scotland to use products and resources responsibly, focusing on where we can have the greatest impact on climate change. 

Using evidence and insight, our goal is to inform policy, and motivate individuals and businesses to embrace the environmental, economic, and social benefits of a circular economy. 

We are a not-for-profit environmental organisation, funded by the Scottish Government and European Regional Development Fund.

Zero Waste Scotland

BAM Construction Scotland is building the capacity of its small and medium sized enterprise (SME) designers and supply chain to design out construction waste and improve financial performance, through for example material optimisation strategies. Working with four of its supply chain partners, BAM was able to:- Realise significant material and waste cost savings- Prevent 120,184 tonnes of waste- Reduce raw material consumption by 2,692 tonnes- Achieve carbon savings of over 176 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents