V Forum on Circular Construction by Grupo Construcía together with the UPC–Grupo Construcía Chair and the Diputació de Barcelona, have become one of Southern Europe’s leading platforms for accelerating the transition toward a truly circular built environment.
Across its editions, the Forums have united public administration, industry, and academia around a shared mission. Namely, to transform how we conceive, design, and materialise the built environment.
Specifically, by prioritising natural capital regeneration and reducing the sector’s environmental impact. Importantly, this mission is highly relevant in the current European context. According to the World Green Building Council, construction accounts for around 50% of extracted resources and 40% of energy consumption.
Additionally, the sector generates more than 35% of total waste.
In particular, construction and demolition waste represents about 30% of all waste in the EU. Although regulations set a 70% recovery target, much of this relies on low-value processes such as backfilling.
Meanwhile, the EU circular material use rate remains close to 12%.
Therefore, progress toward the 2030 targets is still slow.
Previous Editions: Building the Foundation for Systemic Transformation
Earlier editions of the Circular Construction Summit have played a key role in consolidating a community of practice connecting cities, businesses and universities. The 3rd Forum (2023), held at La Pedrera in collaboration with La Vanguardia, framed construction as a positive force for change, highlighting design-from-origin approaches, traceability through tools such as BIM, and alignment with the EU taxonomy.
The 4th Forum (2024), under the theme “Living in a Material World. Enabling Systemic Action”, focused on the need to activate systemic action and the essential role of Cradle to Cradle certified materials in enabling regenerative models.
Together, these editions have strengthened Net Positive approaches and accelerated the redesign of materials and processes to prevent waste generation. They form the foundation that now positions the Forum as an influential engine for real, measurable circularity in the built environment.
5th Circular Construction Forum: Driving Change Through Cooperation
The 5th edition of the Circular Construction Forum further consolidates the alliance between city, academia and industry as the foundation of an ecosystem capable of transitioning toward a built environment compatible with planetary boundaries. It will take place on 3 December 2025 at the Paraninfo of the Diputació de Barcelona – Escola Industrial de Barcelona.
This edition focuses on real-world experiences that drive action, organised into four key thematic areas:
- The City as a Quarry
The Forum will feature the exemplary case of the City of London, showcasing how a clear roadmap and effective regulations have enabled large-scale mobilisation of the industry around the reuse of buildings and materials.
- Circular Construction Business Models
Leading companies will present innovative business models that successfully activate circular economy principles through commercially viable and scalable approaches.
- Innovation Strategies in Circular Construction
The Forum will explore how major infrastructures can become innovation laboratories, catalysing sector-wide transformation. A key example will be the renovation of FC Barcelona’s Spotify Camp Nou, a project embedding circularity criteria into its design and execution.
- Barcelona as an Urban Innovation Hub
The Diputació de Barcelona will present the challenges it has launched to industry to promote circular innovation and foster collaborative action. Dedicated spaces will be created to strengthen cooperation between stakeholders and accelerate systemic change.
The Forum reinforces a core message: the circular economy is a paradigm shift that begins with relationships. For this reason, the UPC–Grupo Construcía Chair invites only those entities whose commitment to positive sector transformation is both genuine and demonstrable.
Honext: A Circular Material Turning Waste Into High-Value Resources
Against this backdrop, Honext is a regular contributor to the Forum thanks to its direct role in enabling circular construction through safe, regenerative and waste-based materials.
Honext is manufactured entirely from industrial fibre waste, transforming it into non-toxic, lightweight, safe, and durable panels that maintain full circularity: the material is 100% recycled and 100% recyclable.
Its circular design and commitment to material health are validated by the certifications Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold and Material Health Gold, recognising its environmental performance, non-toxic profile and capacity to stay in continuous material cycles.
Honext demonstrates how waste can become a high-value input—and how materials can be designed to remain within regenerative loops, never becoming waste again.
