At the basis of circular success is dialogue
Our BTE Group Managing Director Bart van Melick visited the Lower House of Parliament in March (together with representatives from several other companies in the construction sector). Bart joined a conversation, led by VVD MP Peter de Groot, on circular construction.
Among other things, Bart made the case in the conversation for creating more opportunities in laws and regulations. On this, he said: 'we find that commercially scaling up the use of secondary binders is easier in Germany than in the Netherlands. Adjust the rules so that there is more room for innovation.'
Dialogue is needed
Bart also addressed the government, asking them to enable dialogue between the various parties in the market. 'Knowledge exchange is very important. For that, you need dialogue. We see in practice that companies are very preoccupied with themselves. How are you going to facilitate this as a government so that things improve?' Bart believes that streams of residues should no longer be seen as waste, but as new raw materials. 'The government has an important facilitating role in that too.' Granting so-called end-of-waste status makes recycling easier for companies.
'At the moment, the Netherlands is still a leader in sustainability,' says Bart. 'But the processes and adaptation of laws and regulations are slow and very tough here. If we do not take sufficient steps, we will soon no longer be a frontrunner but a broom wagon. When you keep the existing rules, you get existing solutions.
