The project “Application of Innovation to the Development of the Circular Economy for Sustainable Construction in the Mediterranean” was launched in Tunisia where the volume of construction waste and rubble has reached nearly 8 million cubic meters. 70% of the latter are concentrated in big coastal cities like Tunis, Sousse and Sfax.
This project seeks to transfer European technologies likely to transform construction waste and rubble into resources to be used for the rehabilitation of roads and reducing its environmental and health impacts, according to data discussed at an international VTC, Wednesday, attended by the Acting Local Affairs and Environment Minister and a Representative of the a representative from the European delegation in Tunisia.
Circular economy is a process which re-uses waste and transforms it into goods meant to reduce its impact on the environment and avoid the depletion of raw materials. It also works on decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
This project, initiated by four countries (Tunisia, France, Italy and Lebanon), will help boost operations of recycling construction and deconstruction waste and disseminate recycling practices for this type of waste so as to create new job opportunities.
It is one of the largest projects scheduled by the European program of cross-border cooperation with the Mediterranean countries worth 1.3 million euros. 90% of the project is funded by the European Union, according to participants in the online conference,
The timeline set for this project is 30 months which kicked off on October 2020. It sought to build two production units of recycled rubble from construction and deconstruction waste in addition to production units of recycled rubble. two of them are based in Tunisia and one in Lebanon with an operating capacity of 30% waste.
These pilot units, which can be run either by local authorities, companies or start-ups, also includes the development of a 1-km pilot road and a platform dedicated to skills and experts, as well as training and raising awareness about the various parties on the scope of the circular economy based on construction waste and rubble.
A policy of effective circular economy in Tunisia is very crucial as it helps reduce about 950,000 tons of carbon dioxide, 35% of gas emissions by 2030 and create 70,000 jobs.
The circular economy system based on the principle of reuse and recycling offers over10 times jobs than the current one based on incineration or landfill.
