Six Circularity City award finalists presenting their circular products at NordBAU
In The News
11 Sep 2019
Six finalists have been invited to showcase their circular products at NordBAU in Neumünster, Germany on 12 September as part of the recently launched Circularity City Product Award. An afternoon of presentations, discussion and insight generation at “Treffpunkt Dänemark” will culminate in the crowning of the most circular product in the built environment.
The finalists
In July EIT Climate-KIC and Circularity City had a call-out to all circular product designers and manufacturers in Germany and in the Nordics to present their most circular products in the built environment. Out of the submissions, six finalists were invited to NordBAU to showcase why their product should receive the Circularity City Award. The six finalists are:
BurntWood ReUse
Recycling wood from recycling stations and construction sites and turning these into façade elements is the corner stone of ØkoTømrer.dk. Trees and other plants store C02 but when burnt, all stored carbon is released. By recycling and repurposing the collected wood from recycling stations and construction sites to new construction elements, you not only prevent cutting down more trees, you also save C02 as the wood continues to store carbon instead of releasing it into the atmosphere if burnt.
Recycling and using wood- and plantbased material in construction can thus have a huge difference. Through their approach, BurntWood ReUse saves around 30kg C02 per m2 and for every m2 sold, they plant a tree through the Growing Trees Network Foundation.
Gamle Mursten
Gamle Mursten reclaims old bricks directly from demolition sites and supplies these to the professional market after being cleaned by machines and hand. By reclaiming the bricks from construction sites, building waste is minimized and both C02 emissions and natural resources are saved by using old bricks instead of producing new ones.
The upcycling of bricks through a patented vibrational technology is used to create more original and beautiful buildings while emphasising the recirculation of all material in every phase of the production.
ReForm Memory Ecotrust
ReForm Memory Ecotrust by Egetæpper is a green choice within carpet tiles. The products are based exclusively on regenerated and regenerable ECONYL® yarn, which is produced from discarded fishing nets and other industrial nylon waste while the backing of the carpet is created from used water bottles.
The product is almost entirely created from plastic waste – waste that would typically otherwise end up in the oceans. ReForm Memory Ecotrust is also Cradle to Cradle certified, meaning the products are corresponding to extensive environmental, sustainability, technical and social fairness requirements.
From household plastic waste to pallet
Recycling plastic from household waste is difficult due to the varying nature of the plastic. While HDPE plastic, typically plastic from different types of plastic cans, and PET plastic, primarily plastic from drinking bottles, can be sold for recycling, the third plastic category of ‘everything else’ has typically ended up in landfills or for incineration.
Randers Municipality however, has developed a method in collaboration with two of the municipality’s companies that allows for the third category plastic to also be recycled. One of the companies developed a method for fine sorting and cleaning the plastic while the other developed a method for molding plastic products from the plastic material. By combining these two methods, the companies can now produce pallets of the same dimensions as the standard European pallets from the plastic waste.
EcoCocon
Feldballe Naturelementer has developed EcoCocon, a structural and insulated panel intended for use in residential as well as public and commercial buildings. The product is almost entirely made out of products that have been produced through photosynthesis. When using natural materials in construction, you actively store C02 in the building material instead of releasing it into the atmosphere through burning or composting.
The EcoCocon panels are produced from straw, wood, veneer and wood fibre board with very little embodied energy, and the panels are simple and quick to assemble, minimising both labour and costs.
VIDAR Clayshingle
Inspired by and respecting the 17 sustainable development goals, Komproment has developed the VIDAR Clayshingle façade system – a product line designed from a circular and restorative perspective. The VIDAR façade system is made up of clay tiles in the front while the back system is made of aluminium. The system has been developed with arcitechts for arcitechts with a focus on both sustainability and aesthetics.
The VIDAR Clayshingle façade system is sold with a full documentation package, which describes the system all the way from the sourcing with clay and aluminium manufacturers, the expected life of the product to the end of life of the product and the circular disassembly process. After disassembly, the product can be re-installed elsewhere or recycled based on Komproment’s “take-back” system, which ensures the material can be recycled without loss of value as all components are easily identified and separated. In addition, all components in the façade system are tested by a third party and are Cradle to Cradle silver level certified.
Need for heightened circular resource thinking
The global awareness of circular products is rapidly affecting customer demands. The future calls for less consumption, less material extraction, less things – in other words, heightened circular resource thinking, longer product life-cycles, more holistic production and long term sustainable action.
The products presented above are showcases of this. During the Circularity City Product Award event at NordBAU, the six finalists will present their products to an expert jury, who will award the most circular and holistic product.
The Jury consists of:
- Pernille Martiny Modvig – Designer and producer, innovation and engagement, EIT Climate-KIC
- Ulrike Linnig – Innovation Lead, EIT Climate-KIC
- Jesper Minor – CEO, Minor Change Group
- Robert P. Perz – Chief Consultant, Project Director Danish Cleantech Hub Germany
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