Business parks need rigorous change in circular economy: 5 key changes

By 2050, the Dutch economy must be fully circular. This requires not only a change in thinking, but also space for circular activities. Circular business parks must play a major role in this.

The industry of the future does not use fossil fuels, but renewable energy and fewer and different materials. By 2050, the Dutch economy must be fully circular. That is why the government has drawn up a National Circular Economy Program. It states, for example, that companies must reduce or replace their use of raw materials and that the lifespan of products must increase. What is nevertheless discarded must be processed in a high-quality manner.

A circular economy also requires business parks to be designed differently. That is a major task for the approximately 3,700 business parks in and around Dutch cities. These not only have to electrify like crazy, but also have to make space for the storage and reprocessing of residual and return streams, for example.

This is a major task for the approximately 3,700 business parks in and around Dutch cities.

How that can look like is in the new handbook Space for Circular Economy on Business Parks in and around the City. The document was commissioned by the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning (VRO) and prepared by a collective of research and consulting firms.

We highlight five key pieces of advice:

1. Efficient use of space
2. Collaboration and shared facilities
3. Local generation and energy hubs
4. Efficient and smart use of water
5. Sustainable buildings