Clean Tech Delta and Metabolic have written a report on circular economy opportunities for Dordrecht

The municipality of Dordrecht has formulated ambitious goals to transition to a circular economy, thereby creating job opportunities and a well-balanced residential work environment. Clean Tech Delta has collaborated with Metabolic, a consultancy agency focused on sustainability, on conducting a circular economy analyses for the municipality Dordrecht. Conclusions from the report allow the municipality to include circular economy principles effectively in their economic program and investment agenda while being able to analyse the effect of the transition to the circular economy on employment opportunities.

The implementation of circularity in Dordrecht focuses on two main sectors within Dordrecht: the building and (de-)construction sector and the manufacturing industry. These sectors have been selected due to their importance for the economy of Dordrecht. Based on the size of the material flows released, the associated financial values, the potential of reducing environment impact (CO2-eq), and the presence of affiliated local businesses, three promising resource and waste streams have been identified: concrete and brick, wood, and metals. Two business cases related to concrete were identified as most promising, which have been developed in more detail.

The business cases are based on C2CA (GBN): the separation, detection and recycling of concrete on site, and on SmartCrusher (New Horizon & Rutte Group): the splitting concrete into fractions for the production of new concrete. Both business cases have the potential to become more profitable than the current scenario, in which used concrete is often processed into road foundations. The C2CA technique has a payback period of about 6 years and a profit of about 660,000 euros per year. The SmartCrushing technique has a faster payback period of 1.6 years and is related to a potential profit of 2.3 million euros per year. The business cases provide the opportunity to create an 8-30 jobs and to reduce 22,500 tons of CO2 emission per year in the region.

The report offers the municipality a first step towards experimentation and development of a circular economy in Dordrecht.

Read the full report here.