Local and regional authorities have played a crucial role in promoting the transition to a circular economy. The Tampere region in Finland, taking role models as an example, is pioneering innovative solutions to reduce waste and lower launches in the construction sector.
go through Michaela Nesvarova
In a landscape filled with sunny blue lakes and dark green forests, it is the ancient red brick building that tells the story of Tampere’s industrial heritage. The former factory that once housed the production of machines and linens still dominated the construction in this Finnish region.
Although the roar of industrial machinery has long disappeared, the “Tampere Spirit”, as locals call it, remains deeply rooted in the region.
“Tampere is known for innovation,” said Tanja Tyvimaa, senior expert at the city of Tampere, the largest city in the region. “If there is a good reason to start a pilot and try a new approach, we do that.”
Circular area
Therefore, it is no surprise that the Tampere region was selected as one of the 12 pilot regions of the EU Circular Cities and Regional Initiative (CCRI).
The CCRI, launched in October 2021, is part of the EU’s broader efforts to help cities use resources more effectively and reduce waste. It brings together more than 140 cities, towns and regions throughout Europe to bring about a transition to a more circular and sustainable lifestyle.
This initiative is also a key part of the European Green Agreement – the EU’s overall plan to develop its economy while protecting the environment. As local communities manage most of Europe’s resources, cities and regions play a crucial role in making this green vision a reality.
“We need to address this at the urban and regional level,” said Tyvimaa, a specialist in sustainable housing and construction.
“If we ask private companies to focus on the cycle, the public sector needs to lead by example. We can’t change the world alone, but we can point it in the right direction.”
Waste-free structure
The main pillars of the circular economy can be described as reuse, repair, renovation and recycling. The system is designed to reduce waste and expand the life cycle of existing products, rather than continually producing new products.
The Tampere area, with 23 municipalities including the city of Tampere, has made great progress towards a circular economy. These efforts focus on one of the largest industries in the region: construction.
The construction sector is an important contributor to global carbon emissions. In the EU, buildings account for nearly half of total energy consumption and generate one-third of the total EU waste.
The Tampere region’s publicly funded circular development center, the situation in Finland is no different in Finland, and the situation in Finland is no different.
In close cooperation with the Tampere Regional Council, Pirkanmaa is committed to improving circular economy practices in the construction sector. This includes housing, infrastructure development and industrial material flows.
“We have a high goal,” Tukanen said. “Our goal is to achieve systemic change. We need significant changes to quickly and reduce our heavy dependence on natural resources.”
As Tuukkanen said, the circular Pirkanmaa is looking for ways to embed circular economy principles in municipal planning and business strategies.
A key achievement is to develop new standards for infrastructure construction, ensuring that the cycle is a core requirement for Tampere’s public tender.
“It’s a big shift,” Tukanen said. “Public procurement involves huge spending and impact. By changing its rules, we can have a real impact.”
Old to new
The Tampere area is also actively promoting the reuse of materials from deconstructed buildings including bricks and concrete. For example, the cities of Nokia and Olivius each recycle and plan to reuse a total of 42,000 bricks in local construction projects.
Another notable example is the EU-funded rebuilding project, which focuses on the reuse of precast concrete for the recirculating structure. The project team involved partners from Tampere and other regions in Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Croatia, aiming to deconstruct and reuse concrete elements from adjacent buildings.
“These specific elements were not originally designed for disassembly, but so far, we have achieved success.”
Replacing newly manufactured materials with reused materials has great environmental advantages. Coordinating the “carbon footprint of re-produced elements” accounts for only 5% of newly produced elements. ”
As part of their work, rebuilding partners conduct deconstruction and reuse pilots. This involves saving structural elements from the building at the end of the lifespan and incorporating them into the new building, including a piece of apartment and exhibition hall.
According to Huuhka, the process is technically feasible and safe.
“These buildings are not retired due to structural failures, but are due to evolving urban and social needs, which allows us to ensure the quality of the reused materials,” she said.
Huuhka added that the rebuilding team was pleasantly surprised by the straightforwardness of the deconstruction process. “In fact, some of our industrial partners have begun to apply our approach to commercial projects.”
Shared knowledge
The next challenge is to learn how to design a building using reused products.
“Design and architecture need to be adapted because we are dealing with existing elements with predefined dimensions, features and load-bearing capacity,” Huuhka said.
To support this shift, the city of Tampere is developing guidelines for architects and embedding circular economy principles into its new climate-neutral roadmap.
“Our hope is that within five years, circular economy practices will no longer be considered anomalies – they will be just a standard component of the construction process,” Tyvimaa said.
She added that creating knowledge and making it widely accessible is a critical step in the green transition. “The main challenge in implementing a circular economy is the lack of practical experience and expertise.”
Here, initiatives like CCRI can have a real impact in helping Europe become more circular.
“CCRI is crucial for knowledge sharing and setting benchmarks,” Tuukkanen said. “Many of the practices developed in Finland are easy to be done elsewhere and vice versa. It is crucial for us to connect and learn from each other.”
The research in this article is funded by the EU’s Horizon Program. The views of respondents do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
This article was originally published in the European Journal of Research and Innovation.
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