Increasing the beneficial use of recycled materials in construction would now require, in addition to ambitious goals, a change of attitude and the public sector positioning itself as a pioneer of the circular economy. On the other hand, taxation of primary natural resources, which was much exposed, would not promote the utilization of recycled materials.
Prime Minister Sipilä's government program has listed material efficiency and more broadly the promotion of the circular economy as one of its top projects. With the tightening of waste legislation, the gates of landfills are closing to utilizable waste materials, and landfill fees have already diverted waste to useful use.
The further processing of waste materials is also a profitable business, as long as they are properly recycled first. Now that won't happen. There are even CE-marked recycled materials on the market at the moment, which the public sector does not want to use.
The goal is to produce more with less
The construction industry plays a central role in the sustainable use of natural resources and increasing material efficiency. It is one of the largest consumers of natural resources and producers of waste. As the amount of repair construction increases, the amount of waste will increase even more.
Material resources are committed to buildings and other structures throughout their life cycle, which are released at the end of the life cycle. By utilizing the recycled materials produced from these instead of primary natural raw materials, such as aggregate, the material efficiency can be improved in the best possible way.
For example, in the earthworks for the construction of a new house, large quantities of loose earth and stone material are created, which cannot be used at the place of origin. The rational utilization of these masses, which can also be regarded as recycled materials, in nearby areas, thus avoiding long transports to landfills, is a significant factor from the point of view of the circular economy as well.
Aggregate supports construction
Stone is the most used building material in Finland and thus plays a key role in the circular economy.
The use of aggregates is the basis of safe and sustainable construction and is essential for the functioning of the social structure. More than 100 million tons of aggregate are used per year, i.e. about 20 tons per inhabitant. The majority of use is directed to transport networks, the share of house construction is 15 percent. The amount of aggregate used directly follows the total amount of construction.
Finland as a whole is a smaller user of aggregates than the European average, when comparing the absolute usage amounts. On the other hand, the use of aggregates per inhabitant in Finland is higher than the average in Europe due to Finland's geographically extensive road network and the dimensioning of road structures. More than 70 percent of aggregates are used in public construction or publicly subsidized projects.
A solution from taxation?
In Finland, the debate about the need for a tax on natural resources regularly surfaces, most recently it has been brought up as an ecological tax. Already in 2012, the Ministry of Finance investigated the possibilities and expediency of introducing a land tax. In the conclusions of the report, it is stated that one of the problems with the introduction of the land tax can be considered the significant share of the state and municipalities in the use of aggregates.
The land tax will be transferred to the prices of final products, in which case the public sector, as the main user of land, would also be the biggest payer of the tax. In this way, the land tax would be paid by the public sector as infrastructure costs rise. In addition, public sector demand is estimated to react poorly to price elasticity, in which case the tax would not have the desired effect in practice.
In accordance with the fiscal yield goal of taxation, land tax should be implemented as cost-effectively as possible and taking into account administrative efficiency and comprehensive tax control. In terms of land tax, the tax yield would most likely remain low, in which case the costs incurred in collecting the tax would be greater than the income received. This would not correspond to the revenue objectives of taxation.
The majority of construction waste consists of earth and stone materials. If you want to use the tax as an incentive for the utilization of surplus land, a waste tax should be imposed on the landfill. However, this is not a recommended solution in the current situation. In practice, there are no alternatives to a landfill, because the plans do not indicate enough temporary storage and processing areas.
National measures and the genuine desire of the authorities in a decisive position
Several good examples from Europe also show that a high recycling rate can be achieved much better by means other than taxation. Belgium, for example, has chosen a completely different route instead of taxation. An encouraging operating environment has been created in the country and regulations have been modified to encourage recycling.
The construction industry supports the circular economy and actions that promote it. However, in order to speed up the circular economy, a predictable, clear regulatory field that increases the willingness to invest and an operating environment supported by various means must be quickly created. Business operations are hampered when the authorities' interpretations vary in different parts of the country. For example, if a contractor, when digging forest land, cannot know whether it is interpreted as clean soil or waste without asking the respective authorities.
Supply also needs demand: a genuine desire to use recycled materials that are already on the market, technically and economically equivalent to primary materials. In infrastructure construction, it is possible to recycle earth and stone materials removed during the construction phase with effective mass coordination regionally from one object to another, and to utilize the mineral-based material flows generated at the end of the life cycle of buildings and structures.
Alternatives to more material-efficient solutions are already available everywhere. Something just doesn't work when, for example, in practice, the use of recycled material cheaper than primary aggregate is restricted and, at worst, even banned. This is despite the fact that it is an equal alternative and meets the technical and functional requirements for its intended use. Crushed concrete as a CE-marked construction product is a good example of this.
A solution to the sufficiency of natural resources and the environmental challenges resulting from their consumption is sought in the European Commission's programs and national projects by improving material efficiency and making the entire circular economy more efficient. The goals that promote the circular economy recorded by the EU Commission will at some point pose many challenges to the real estate and construction sector as well.
If we really want to introduce the circular economy as a general way of working in Finland, national actions will have a much faster impact. Central to their implementation is the public sector's genuine desire to utilize, especially in new construction, construction and demolition waste and recycled materials processed from them, as well as various industrial side streams. The public sector, as the largest user of aggregates, could take the role of a European pioneer in this.
Thank you for this interesting article regarding recycled materials in the construction industry. I think the reuse of aggregate is a good thing. Apparently, the demolition of concrete structures can be made into crushed concrete and this can be used, for example, in road construction. I think it's a good solution when you take into account Finland's comprehensive road network and maintenance.