Circular Economy Hub collaborations - Edinburgh & Aberdeen.
EALA designed Plan A, a circular economy (CE) construction materials hub. Plan A is currently a network of existing CE providers and enablers operating by project referrals, collaborations and specifications. We share skills, time and materials. We collaborate with ESALA Architecture students at Edinburgh University, local communities, enterprises, and developers. Having identified the opportunity and need for a physical space to ‘buffer’ the flows of materials between uses, and provide a demonstration of the circular economy, we built a business model showing the need of a c.35,000 sq.ft warehouse in Edinburgh. The plan is based on the co-location of CE providers as a foundation, and research and development to ‘grow’ the scene, incorporating, academia, funders and re-manufacturers. This requires a flexible spatial layout enabling multiple users and activities from workshops to events, retail to storage. We are currently seeking a lease to meet this need which will then open up applications for funding.
The Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) is a Scottish Government not-for-profit organisation pivoting the Aberdeen economy from oil and gas to renewables. They employed EALA to develop a route to ‘net zero’ for the c.350 buildings under their control. We responded with a Circular Economy policy framework to get to net zero, yielding improved impacts financially, socially, and environmentally. One recommendation was a Reuse Hub to manage materials arising in the refurbishment of the buildings in the industrial estates. As a follow-up exercise, we were asked to develop a business model for a Reuse Hub for Aberdeen. To do so required a research process including an online questionnaire, interviews with industry stakeholders across the region, a series of workshops, and the development of schematics for the circular economy ecosystem and the financial model which would make it sustainable. Only once we had this could we define what role a hub would play. Using our work, ETZ are currently seeking funding support to establish a hub.
