Zero Waste Construction Hubs Business Case

The WMCA are looking to a appoint a consultant to support in the production of a business case for the Zero Waste Construction Hub concept proposed by the Circular Economy Routemap.

In June 2019, the WMCA declared a climate emergency and the WMCA Board agreed a target for the region to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2041. A 'green paper' was written to indicate how the region could take action in order to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2041. This was approved by the Combined Authority Board in January 2020 for consultation until 12th March 2020.

The unfolding events of the pandemic resulted in the feedback from the consultation being combined into 'WM2041: a programme for implementing an environmental recovery' which was approved by the CA Board in June 2020, outlining the priority actions for a 'green recovery' from Covid-19.

Since the approval of this paper the Environment & Energy Programme has developed into broad areas of Climate Change, Natural Capital, Energy Systems, and the Circular Economy, with corresponding plans or strategies that shape delivery activity.

West Midlands Circular Economy Routemap

One of the key work strands stemming from the programme was the development of a Circular Economy Routemap, outlining how the West Midlands can take a circular approach to resource efficiency that will benefit business, communities, and the public sector. This forms part of a wider approach to waste reduction and material and resource consumption across the region.

Published in September 2021, the Routemap outlines strategic interventions the WMCA could take across three key sectors: - Circular Manufacturing - Circular Construction - Circular Food and the Sharing Economy

The Routemap is available to download at https://beta.wmca.org.uk/what-we-do/environment-and-energy/creating-a-circular-economy/

The baseline analysis of regional material and waste flows conducted at the initial stage of the Routemap's development highlighted the issue of waste in the construction sector in the West Midlands, which is the largest consumer of materials and producer of waste in the region. Work has been done to ensure that waste is reused, recycled, and repurposed, however, the analysis showed that 4.5 million tonnes of waste still goes to landfill each year. Additionally, much of the waste that goes to landfill consists of usable materials, with it estimated that 13% of materials that arrive on building sites are never used.

To help introduce more circularity into the sector, the Routemap proposed the creation of Zero Waste Construction Hubs, to recover useable materials in the construction industry.

The overall aim of the project will be to identify how the materials exchange hub concept can benefit the West Midlands, its construction sector, and its residents and propose how they could be established in the region, starting with a pilot hub.

Additional information: Tender documents can be obtained from the eTendering portal - https://wmca.bravosolution.co.uk click on "Current Opportunities"

To access the documents, all interested parties need to register on our e-tendering portal. Registration is free of charge and takes 5-10 minutes to complete. Further details can be obtained by following the instructions in the below link:

https://www.wmca.org.uk/media/1692/wmca_etendering_supplier_registration_guide_2016.pdf

If you have already registered with our Bravo Portal, this may be a good opportunity for you to review and update your contact details, this will ensure that opportunities are linked to the correct individuals within your organisation. Please note that you will not be able to participate in this opportunity if you have not registered on the portal.