Sustainable development of the built environment: response to contradiction through the circular economy and designing out waste in the construction industry

The concept of the 'circular economy,' a term perhaps unfamiliar just a few years ago, has now caught the imagination of thought-leaders across the world, and is taking shape as a viable, practical alternative to the current linear economic model based on the notion of 'take-make-dispose' – a model that has, for generations, embodied an expanding culture of waste production. With 3 billion middle class consumers expected to enter the global market place by 2030 the need for changing our relationship with waste is urgent.