Sustainability is a much debated topic last decades and in particular the past few years . Many governments, organisations, business and people feel the urgency to act. The United Nations even states in their IPCC 2018 report that in order to keep the climate change contained, unprecedented changes to systems in terms of scale and speed are necessary. A possible change that the system can make is a change towards a circular economy. The circular economy combines business models to environmental principles like reuse, reduce recycle and recover. This report researched the extent to which the principles of the circular economy are applied by housing associations and if these applications are innovative compared to Cradle to Cradle or traditional sustainable applications.
In order to answer this question a case study was carried out. The cases were selected because of the link that was made between the project and the circular economy by the housing associations. Eight cases were studied through ten interviews. The data were analysed using an analytical framework developed in a literature study. The findings of the analyses were discussed in a focus group interview. The result of the research is that the extent of the application of circular economy by housing associations is limited. Four of the eight cases are demolition projects. The recycling and reuse that took place in these projects were no different than the demolition principles that were already common practice. In these cases there also was no circular business model used. There is just one case that applied a circular business model. In this cases however, there is a third party introduced for the execution of the lease model. According to the circular economy theory, these third parties should be avoided.
Although most cases prioritize sustainability over finance, they don’t fit the label Cradle to Cradle. The projects insufficiently focussed on design to avoid waste. Besides, the materials in the projects were not 100% upcycled.
These conclusions do not mean that housing associations do not have sustainable projects and agenda’s. They envision to increase the sustainability of their real estate portfolio. Together the housing associations have a strong market position. They can make a big contribution to sustainability through tenders, collective purchasing of sustainable products and sustainable products as a service.