Infrastructure is the backbone of the global economy. It comprises of public assets that provide essential services to people and businesses through investments in the transport, energy, social, communications, water, and waste sectors.
However, infrastructure consumes around 60% of the world’s materials and contributes around 10% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through construction alone. Better circularity in infrastructure has clear potential to bring about long-term impact in terms of climate change mitigation and resource scarcity.
“The 1.5°C Paris Agreement target can only be achieved by combining renewable energy and energy efficiency with other approaches, including circular economy.” Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Systemic change and innovation is needed at a global scale to advance the opportunities for circular infrastructure.
Explore GI Hub’s data analysis on potential impact to mitigate climate change and resource scarcity with a focus on infrastructure’s embodied and operational emissions.
This paper offers infrastructure practitioners transition pathways to apply circular economy principles and aims to raise awareness and knowledge of circular infrastructure.
Read the paper to access the full data analysis and key findings from our work for the G20.
Explore GI Hub’s data analysis on potential impact to mitigate climate change and resource scarcity with a focus on infrastructure’s embodied and operational emissions.
This paper offers infrastructure practitioners transition pathways to apply circular economy principles and aims to raise awareness and knowledge of circular infrastructure.
Read the paper to access the full data analysis and key findings from our work for the G20.
A circular economy is an economic system that organises production, supply and consumption of materials into closed loops, thereby reducing the pressure on the world’s finite materials and natural resource depletion. The circular economy transition is centred around the 6R principles for circularity: refuse, reduce, reuse, repair and refurbish, recycle, and residual.
The cross-section of infrastructure and the circular economy is what the GI Hub calls ‘circular infrastructure’. Circular infrastructure comprises investments in transport, energy, social, communications, water, and waste sectors that:
The circularity diagram for the 6R principles was adapted from PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency Outline of the Circular Economy (2019).
Sustainable infrastructure is a priority of the G20’s Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) and circular economy is a topic covered under this agenda.
In 2021, the GI Hub was tasked with a G20 deliverable to examine the role that infrastructure can play in the transition to a circular economy. To date, this initiative has resulted in the following activities:
In October 2021, the GI Hub presented a circular economy roadmap to the G20 IWG that provided high-level guidance on how to transition infrastructure towards a circular economy.
As part of the next phase for this work the GI Hub is collecting data and insights into effective and / or innovative circular economy practices under each transition pathway outlined in GI Hub’s paper Advancing the circular economy through infrastructure.
Do you have an example of circular infrastructure best practice or innovation? We are collating global best practice to advance the conversation and inform our future work. Examples can be submitted here.
Contribute case studies on green and circular economy funding and financing
Further work is underway to expand the case studies that form part of GI Hub’s Innovative Funding and Financing tool. The tool is designed to help governments understand their options, identify frictions in their markets, and access solutions to improve the quality and quantity of projects attractive to private sector investors. If you would like to submit your own case studies to share with the G20 IWG, please click here.
The GI Hub asked industry experts to outline what they believe the turning point will be for a circular economy. Watch the videos below to discover their answers.
In April 2021, the GI Hub hosted a workshop for the G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) on the role of infrastructure in the circular economy. The workshop brought together the following experts in circular economy and infrastructure to identify synergies between the two sectors and explore how these opportunities can be implemented across the world. Watch the video of the workshop above.
Opening remarks
• Lawrence Bartolomucci, Head of the G7/G20 Coordination Unit, Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance
• Marie Lam-Frendo, CEO, Global Infrastructure Hub
Fireside chat (5:00 - 18:05)
• Marie Lam-Frendo, CEO, Global Infrastructure Hub and Andrew Morlet, CEO, Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Panel one discussion (18:06 - 48:40)
• Henri Blas, Chief Content Officer, GI Hub (Moderator)
• Vivek Pathak, Director and Global Head for Climate Business, International Finance Corporation
• Dr Cheong Koon Hean, Chair of Singapore's Centre for Liveable Cities
• Dr Heinz Schandl, Circular Economy Expert, CSIRO
Panel two discussion (48:45 -1:15:24)
• Jo da Silva, Global Sustainable Development Director, Arup
• Dr Nicolas Swetchine, Head of International infrastructure Markets, Lafarge Holcim
• Philippe Crete, Head of Circular Economy Fund, Fondaction
• Jonas Byström, Circular Economy Expert, European Investment Bank
Q&A Session (1:15:36 - 1:38:57)
• All participants
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The 6R principles is an example of a ‘hierarchy of action’ for circularity and shows that the aim of the circular economy is to primarily refuse (1) or reduce (2) the raw materials entering the system. This is achieved by ‘closing the loop’ and maximising the amount of materials reused (3), repaired, refurbished (4), and recycled (5) to produce another product of equal or better quality than before. Residual materials are recovered (6) when they can no longer be reused or recycled. The remaining pathways for residuals are to extract the energy (e.g. through waste-to-energy) or to safely dispose them. |