As part of Rotterdam Unlocked, we are looking for startups and scaleups that can contribute to making the Rotterdam region more circular through reducing the construction waste within the region. Rotterdam has the goal of becoming a zero-waste construction sector in the next 10 years.
The Dutch government is working towards a 50% reduction in primary raw material use by 2030, and fully circular by 2050. As the region of Rotterdam is known as the world leader in modern architecture, it views the construction waste as an opportunity rather than just an environmental problem. The city’s construction waste, which consisted of 393,783 tonnes in 2015 according to the Circular Rotterdam report, provides huge potential to become renowned for making most of waste produced by the city’s heavy construction activities. With the largest port of Europe and a strong presence of designers and architects, Rotterdam has a huge potential to take the next step towards a circular city, closing the loop within the construction development process.
To reduce waste in the construction development, it is as fundamental to find high-value destinations for waste that is already generated as it is to implement a new design of constructions that phases out waste generation throughout their lifecycle.
