European National Road Authorities and Circular Economy: An Insight into Their Approaches

Mantalovas, Konstantinos; Mino, Gaetano Di; Jimenez, Ana; Carrion, Del Barco; Keijzer, Elisabeth; Kalman, Bj�rn; Parry, Tony; Lo Presti, Davide

Abstract

The pavement engineering industry, having realized the significance of the impacts that it imposes on the environment through the production, construction and management of its products and assets, has been driven towards a more sustainable and circular way of operating. This has partly been through asphalt recycling, which is an area that many road authorities have prioritized. However, not all the National Road Authorities (NRAs) and/or sector stakeholders seem to be adequately familiar with the Circular Economy (CE) concept. This paper attempts to assist the transition of NRAs to a more circular way of doing business, by analyzing the current situation of CE within national/regional authorities and NRAs. To do so, a questionnaire was sent to different NRAs and an online search was conducted to identify the ways that NRAs communicate their CE practices. Findings indicate that, although the majority of the NRAs are familiar with CE as a concept, not many actions have been taken so far towards its holistic implementation. Finally, there is a significant lack of CE expertise and communication within these bodies.

Citation

Mantalovas, K., Mino, G. D., Jimenez, A., Carrion, D. B., Keijzer, E., Kalman, B., …Lo Presti, D. (2020). European National Road Authorities and Circular Economy: An Insight into Their Approaches. Sustainability, 12(17), Article 7160. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177160

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 1, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Sep 2, 2020
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Sep 2, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 7, 2020
• Journal: Sustainability
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 17
• Article Number: 7160
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177160
• Keywords: circular economy; asphalt pavements; National Road Authorities; circular procurement; circular recommendations; circular road maps
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4873662
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/7160