»We don’t have much time left« – Material cycles in the construction industry
Whether in politics, in the media or in everyday life: The topic of environmental protection can and should no longer be unnoticed. However, the current strategies for reducing CO2 emissions have not been successful.
The construction industry in particular is a crucial sector for efficiently reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
After all, this sector is not only responsible for 40 % of global CO2 emissions, but also for 35 % of the global energy consumption.
In addition, around 250 million tons of construction waste are generated in Germany alone, which corresponds to around 60 % of the national waste volume.
But despite these devastating numbers there is little progress in politics.
Max Wörner, CEO of TRIQBRIQ, comments on this problem:
»We are running out of time and the construction sector is too slow.«
In order to discuss possible concepts and approaches for combating these problems, we brought together experts from politics, science and business for a joint discussion in a webinar.
Under the theme of “Material cycles – from the shell to an urban mine”, insights into the current legal situation were given on July 6, 2021. Political norms were discussed and potential areas of action, such as “urban mining”, were shown.
Members of the German Bundestag Christian Kühn (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) and Hagen Reinhold (FDP), the spatial planner Dr. Cecilia Braun, as well as Andreas Kunsmann (COO Polycare) and Max Wörner (CEO TRIQBRIQ) were present.
Together with our guests, we came to the conclusion that fundamental changes are necessary if the construction sector is to become climate-neutral by 2025.
Circular pilot projects such as Polycare and TRIQBRIQ are crucial to achieve such a transformation in the value chain.
But sustainable innovations often fail to gain approval. In this regard, Kunsmann and Wörner appealed for more openness in politics.
However, politics also faces challenges:
“We want to be innovative, but it doesn’t work because I can’t enforce it, neither with the customer nor with the authorities”, Hagen Reinhold (FDP) commented on the problem.
Dr. Cecilia Braun also emphasized that there are enough ideas, but that implementation is a problem.
Overall, we all agree on one thing: there must be a change.
We hope for a positive development and thank all participants!