The Obstacles of Circular Economy in the Real Estate Sector

Kardham group offers services regrouping 3 main activities: real estate consultancy, architecture and development. Our group has decided to integrate the principles of circular economy in projects, more particularly in development projects. We therefore approached actors that were already present in this market and our operation teams to perform a first diagnostic. Apart from the evident opportunities that this approach provides, there are obstacles that we seek to identify in order to better overcome them. Despite the potential that circular economy represents and the presence of several actors in this domain, what are the obstacles that exist in the implementation of this type of operation? First of all, there are behavioral obstacles. Mentalities are evolving concerning environmental performance but there lies a need to convince the decision makers that circular economy represents a long-term value creation for the enterprise if integrated into the value chain. In addition, there are regulatory and legal obstacles. In the absence of adaptation to certain materials, we observe that they will be excluded from the reintegration market (absence of procedure reports attesting the performance). The lack of insurance and guaranty of certain equipment technique can also slow down the reuse and reintegration. If we want a holistic approach to circular economy, we think it is imperative that the market doesn’t get compartmentalized… Finally, there are obstacles that exist in the implementation: we are only at the early stages of this step having very fluctuant volume of accessible materials. On the other hand, technical information on these materials often does not exist. We have feedback from building professionals based on their experience explaining that the diligent removal and refurbishing of materials involves overtime to integrate them into projects.