Towards Acceleration of Re-Use Transition in the Infrastructure Sector

Abstract

The existing high level of greenhouse emissions and raw material consumption are the current concerns in the infrastructure sector. On the other hand, the programs for renovating the aged and overloaded infrastructures are currently under progress as substantial national programs with circularity targets in the Dutch context, involving various public-private networks. Implementing the circularity strategy of re-use in conducting the infrastructure projects will be beneficial to reduce the amount of emissions, minimize the raw material consumption, and facilitate the formulated national programs. Currently, there are just a few re-use projects, and running a higher number of these projects and accelerating the re-use transition in the infrastructure sector are urgent topics in the global and Dutch context. Public client organizations (PCOs) have determining role in this regard, as owners and commissioners of infrastructure projects. There are wider networks of actors and extra stages to follow in re-use projects, which can create barriers and make the organizational aspects of these projects extremely important. Most attempts are locked at the tactical level of PCOs, and a gap has emerged between the tactical and operational levels of these organizations in the implementation of the re-use strategy, which prevents acceleration of the re-use projects. There is less attention in the current studies to the existing gap between the tactical and operational level of PCOS in conducting re-use projects in the infrastructure sector, the required procedures to fill that, and accelerating the re-use transition, which are zoomed in and investigated in this research. The research is conducted through a qualitative method, following three different phases of theoretical study, empirical study, and solution development in the context of a PCO. This research recognized that the existing gap between the two levels is rooted in different fields, and the most urgent ones have been identified. It revealed that tackling such gaps requires following specific organizational procedures by actors within each of the two organizational levels and between them. Following such procedures to deal with the addressed gaps can be easier through using a framework. The required framework, provided in this study for public clients including organizational procedures and their relevant re-use implementation factors embedded in certain categories. Among the existing gaps in practice, three gaps are recognized as the most urgent ones, which are placed in the two top categories of ‘culture, communication and behavior’ and ‘contract, manuals and guidelines’. The top three gaps addressed by three re-use implementation factors of ‘target formulation, follow-up & evaluation’, ‘internal & external communication’, and ‘collaboration with external parties’. The provided organizational procedures are interrelated in implementing the re-use strategy, and the result of implementing some procedures should be followed by the work of actors at the same or another level. The strategic level should also intervene to fill the gaps specifically in formulating and re-visioning the targets. Structuring the communications, collaborations, and target formulation stages through implementing the procedures recommended in the presented framework in this research, and consistency with that, will prepare the organizational context, and link the tactical and operational level of PCOs in implementing the re-use projects. As a result, the re-use activities at the operational level of public client organizations will be more structured. With well-linked tactical and operational level and structured re-use activities, the re-use transition will be facilitated and can be accelerated at the operational level of the public client organizations. To address a circular solution for the national programs of renovating infrastructures, the active networks in them can consider the networks as the national context for re-use transition, and customize the framework to structure the inter-organizational procedures between the involved parties in the tactical and operational transition levels. Through structuring collaborations & communications between tactical and operational parties, developing clear and detailed targets, and evaluating them, the re-use transition can also be accelerated on the national scale.