By Richard J Catherall, Manager – Innovation Investment, Auckland Council

Infrastructure and the circular economy are both becoming increasingly important, but can be at odds with one another unless we forge connections.

In the previous edition New Zealand Infrastructure Review, I wrote about our vision of reimagining South Auckland as an emerging circular economy and developing the infrastructure to catalyse this. This time, I would like to reinforce a principle about ownership, grounding it more concretely in where the infrastructure sector is today.

Building futures

Circular infrastructure is not a novel concept. Circular economy principles are being applied to infrastructure projects to reduce waste and maximise resource efficiency. We are using sustainable materials, designing for disassembly and re-usability, and implementing circular business models. The Waterview Connection Tunnel project incorporated sustainable design features, such as crushed rock from excavation as backfill material, and recycling 96 per cent of excavated concrete and asphalt for re-use in other parts of the project.

There is a growing focus on using infrastructure to address climate change and support sustainability goals. This includes investments in renewable energy, electric vehicle charging stations, sustainable water management systems, and green roofs and walls. 

An example from Europe is the Brussels Canal Plan in Belgium, which aims to transform the city’s canals into a sustainable blue-green network that integrates water management, biodiversity and recreation. And, in the Netherlands, the Amsterdam Energy Arena is a district energy system that uses renewable energy sources and recovers waste heat from nearby buildings.

The use of digital technology is increasingly prevalent in infrastructure projects, enabling more efficient management, maintenance and monitoring. This includes the use of sensors, Internet of Things devices, and data analytics to optimise performance and reduce consumption. This could create opportunities to link newer and existing infrastructure. 

Circular economy principles require collaboration between stakeholders across the value chain, akin to a circular way of working together. This is being reflected in the infrastructure sector. Partnerships between governments, businesses, and communities are being established to design and implement circular infrastructure projects.

This can create conditions for the development of circular supply chains. A circular economy will crowdsource reducing waste and increasing resource efficiency, as well as enabling risk sharing, including how to incubate and inculcate systemic circularity.

Missed opportunities

The Channel Tunnel, designed and built in the 1980s and 1990s to link the United Kingdom and France, did not achieve its circular economy goals. Proponents of the circular economy in the project made their case at a time before circular economy principles were widely adopted, and so the tunnel was not designed with these principles in mind. Design is so crucial to achieving circularity that designers carry significant influence, including the power to catalyse or resist change.

The tunnel’s ownership structure and operating model did not prioritise circularity. It was owned by two private companies that were primarily focused on generating profits rather than reducing waste. The tunnel’s operations require a significant amount of energy and generate a large carbon footprint, which runs counter to the circular economy principles that aim to minimise resource consumption and emissions. 

Regulations and safety requirements can also make it difficult to implement circular strategies. How many of our infrastructure investments are rooted in decisions, ideas, and expectations from a more wasteful mindset? Ownership and design are mutually reinforcing, and are areas of collaborative innovation.

Ownership is a catalyst of circularity

Ownership plays a critical role in developing a circular economy. In a linear economy, ownership is often limited to stages of a process. Inefficiencies, waste and pollution are a product of the disconnection. A circular economy requires a more integrated approach in which ownership is shared across the value chain. This can create incentives for all involved to reduce waste, improve resource efficiency, and promote re-use and recycling. When ownership is shared there is a greater incentive to share the costs and risks of investing in innovation, research and development, and advanced technology. This ‘circular ownership’ can create the conditions for a more equitable economy.

New opportunities: power in partnerships

Several ownership models can enable infrastructure to realise circular economy values:

Public ownership of the commons: Infrastructure is arguably an area for common ownership. Governments must prioritise circular economy principles through consultation, design briefs and procurement decisions. Public ownership can facilitate coordination across different sectors and stakeholders to achieve circular objectives. This is why elected officials, public servants and those advising leadership teams need to understand circularity. This is a space for excellence and without it, and an actual intent to transform, this form of ownership falls short.

Cooperative ownership: Infrastructure would be a new application of this kind of ownership model. We are uniquely placed to pioneer this in New Zealand. This type of organisation appreciates the community and cultural foundations of infrastructure. It is accountable to communities of interest, and is more likely to adopt circular economy business models that prioritise viable and tangible impact.

Social enterprise ownership: Infrastructure owned by a social enterprise (which could be a joint venture) becomes an enterprise with a societal and environmental mission. Circularities re-establish links that in Te Ao Māori were never broken. Social enterprises may be more innovative in finding circular solutions and consider these a form of profit, rather than focusing on generating financial profits only. Could this encourage inward investment from collectives, impact investors and international investors?

Public-private partnerships: These may be more likely to prioritise circular economy principles because they require collaboration and coordination across different sectors and stakeholders.

Ultimately, ownership models that prioritise accountability, social and environmental profits (not just goals) with collaboration at the centre, and that forge connections across the value chain are more likely to catalyse circularity in infrastructure.

Ready for transformation

The Transmission Gully partnership includes a sustainability strategy with targets for reducing construction waste, greenhouse gas emissions and water usage. The project includes plans for recycling and re-using asphalt and steel. The Pūhoi to Warkworth project includes a waste management plan that aims to reduce the amount of waste generated during construction and divert waste from landfill. These demonstrate an effort to incorporate sustainable practices and reduce waste. Perhaps we are ready to catalyse the circular economy through our infrastructure investment more intentionally. 

When new value is created, rather than waste through disconnection, new links to advanced manufacturing and technology emerge. One way to create the conditions for excellence, and demonstrate a real and shared intent to transformation, is through the choice and quality of ownership.

A higher quality of infrastructure requires a higher quality of ownership. Although this excites competing interests, it is an opportunity for transformation. Connections can be forged and radical efficiencies are possible. Every tunnel breaks through. Every bridge connects two sides. If any sector can engineer breakthroughs and design excellence into our future, then it is infrastructure.

About the author
Richard J Catherall is Manager – Innovation Investment at Auckland Council. Through the work of the Community and Social Innovation Unit, the potential of the circular economy to catalyse new qualities of economic growth is driving more ambitious goals and partnerships in southern Auckland. The unit is a proponent of strategic procurement and fostering collaborative ownership to achieve transformation.