This report examines key circular economy indicators developed during the CIRCuIT project and Finnish city official’s views on them. The aim of the study was to identify the use cases for five indicators from the cities’ perspective. Interviews were conducted with representatives of the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa and Kauniainen. The report was commissioned by Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority HSY.
The five key indicators assessed include:
Circular economy indicators for demolition
Amount of construction and demolition waste
Proportion of Construction and Demolition Waste Recycled
Circular economy indicators for existing building stock
Refurbishment and transformation relative to new construction
Demolition rate
Average age of demolished buildings
Key findings from the work include:
Construction and demolition indicators were considered highly impactful where available
The comparability of indicators between cities should be considered carefully - age of the demolished buildings could be related more to the city's history than to its circularity policies
Continuous improvement of indicators requires systematic data collection - this is not always in place
To act on the data city officials needed a better understanding of demolition and repurposing opportunities