Managing Glass Waste in Energy Efficient Building Retrofitting: Barriers and Opportunities for a Circular Economy

Résumé En

Making cities resilient and sustainable is only possible if the energy consumption of buildings is reduced. Retrofitting is one of the main tools of the environmental policies developed in cold and temperate climates, leading to the replacement of products considered inefficient. This is particularly the case for glazing, which is a key element in the energy system of a building. However, most of the glass waste generated by renovation is landfilled while the development of a circular economy in the glass industry seems today highly challenging. This paper studies barriers and opportunities to increase the recycling and repair of insulating glass units. To do so, we follow three approaches: a literature review, a series of interviews and a case study of a glazed office district in Brussels. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the main issues relating to the management of glass waste in the building sector and underlines the importance of economic instruments to support the spread of sorting and recycling practices. The need to rethink the systems for assembling insulating glass units with a view to facilitating the sorting of their components also appears as a necessary and stimulating path.