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AMSTERDAM METROPOLITAN AREA USES MATERIAL PASSPORTS TO BOOST THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE REGION

News 25 may 2019

AMSTERDAM METROPOLITAN AREA USES MATERIAL PASSPORTS TO BOOST THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE REGION

Together with Madaster, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA) has started a material passports pilot project to stimulate the regional circular economy. The municipalities and provinces within the AMA will each be offered a material passport for one of their buildings. This gives them the opportunity to consider the value of such passports, which are providing insight into the material, circular and financial value of the related real estate.

The AMA aims to achieve a circular construction economy within the region. By implementing and applying material passports, government authorities are thus taking an essential step towards circular construction and demolition practices for the real estate they own. This pilot project will finish at the end of 2019.

‘We believe it is important to help introduce material passports to these local government authorities. They will be receiving support in choosing an appropriate building, in making the related data available, and in using Madaster. Furthermore, each authority will be offered a full communication package that they can use to inform the organisation about this process. I hope that this will show municipalities how useful material passports can be for them.’ – Jolein Baidenmann, Director of Resources AMA

‘We need to step away from our wasteful economy and move towards one that focuses on reuse and value. That is the future. We are therefore very happy to be able to inventory existing real estate in this way. We are planning to build our new fire station using circular construction methods and it would be great if we could do so by reusing existing materials!’ – Hessel Kruisman, Coordinator Sustainability, Energy transition and Economy, Bloemendaal

Madaster functions as an public, online library that registers and documents buildings and the products and materials applied within them, similar to how land parcellation and landownership are registered in a land registry. Madaster can be used for generating a secure, web-based material passport for all real estate objects. A material passport contains information about the quality and origins of materials, the disassembling options of the various products and their current location. This makes them easier to recover and reuse, in cases of renovation and restoration. Buildings, thus, become documented ‘storage units’ of materials. In addition, circular and financial information flows are linked, thus revealing the historical, current and future value of materials, products, elements, the building itself, and all of these combined.

‘If we are to fulfil our ambitions for a fully circular economy by 2050, it is important that certain steps are taken, today, by companies, trade unions, nature and environmental organisations, knowledge institutes, financial organisations as well as government authorities. The AMA is helping local authorities to become aware of the added value of material passports and, thus, to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy for the regional construction sector.’ – Jeroen Broersma, Business Developer Madaster

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