First Flemish Concrete Agreement is a fact

The construction industry is launching the first Flemish Concrete Agreement. For the past two years, the sector has been working on this following the Dutch example. This ambition text is a milestone for all stakeholders in the concrete chain to work together for more green concrete. Since primary raw materials in the sector are becoming scarcer and climate ambitions need to be increased, this is a crucial step to help reduce CO2 emissions and reduce the use of materials in the sector with circular principles.

This is an initiative of the project partners within the "Circular Concrete" project supported by the Flemish government. The initiators reflect the construction chain: Green Concrete Vert, Buildwise, Association of demolition, dismantling and recycling companies, Fedbeton and Embuild Flanders. Every construction professional and stakeholder in the concrete chain can now consult and sign the Concrete Agreement via the website www.betonakkoord-vlaanderen.be. The initiators are calling on their members and stakeholders to do so en masse. More than forty construction companies and organizations have already digitally subscribed to the Concrete Agreement.

On the 4th action day of the Green Deal Circular Construction on Tuesday, December 6 in Bruges, the Flemish Concrete Agreement was presented to the general public. A lot of companies and organizations officially signed the Concrete Agreement. They thus endorsed the ambitions of this agreement.

Worldwide, construction is mostly done with concrete. As a result, it accounts for a significant portion of CO2 emissions. For example, cement production alone accounts for 7% of global emissions. But concrete can be recycled for 100%, if it is released in a sufficiently pure form during demolition. The production of green and circular concrete is on the rise, but an acceleration is imminent. With the Flemish Concrete Agreement, the sector wants to remove administrative and technical obstacles in order to realize this ambition. This is in line with the European objective of reducing global CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050 and reducing the use of materials by 30% by 2030. Now, with the Concrete Accord, the sector is calling on all actors to help achieve these goals. In doing so, the Dutch Concrete Agreement has served as a reference.

By 2030: 50% reduction in CO2 emissions released from the production of concrete in Flanders (including extraction and reuse of raw materials, transportation and construction/installation) compared to emissions in baseline year 1990.

By 2050: 0 kg of CO2 per m³ of concrete produced.

By 2030, the design of buildings and structures should provide that concrete elements can be maximally reused or functions in the building can be maximally adapted. Furthermore, no substances will be present in buildings that prevent recycling.

This is part of the "Targeted Call Circular Construction Economy. This project call was launched in 2020 by Flanders Circular and OVAM to support innovative projects in circular construction to help overcome bottlenecks to sustainable innovation in the construction sector. Minister of Environment Zuhal Demir released 2.2 million euros for this purpose. Flanders Circular is a partnership of governments, businesses, civil society and knowledge community taking action together to enable the ambitions towards a circular economy in Flanders by 2050. For more info, see: vlaanderen-circulair.be/en