WEBINAR: Resource Efficiency and Climate Change: The TOTEM tool for construction

The Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM) developed an innovative tool TOTEM that determines and benchmarks the environmental impacts of buildings over their entire life cycle.

DATE: Thursday 26 March

TIME: 17:30 to 18h30 CET

REGISTRATION: Register here. You will receive an email confirmation with connection instructions shortly after.

As part of its strategy to accelerate a circular economy, the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM) has developed an innovative tool called TOTEM. This tool determines and benchmarks the environmental impacts of buildings (including their materials) over their entire life cycle. OVAM sees cities and regions as ‘circular metabolisms’, productivity centers, where many different resource cycles need to be closed locally.

The webinar will take place on 26 March from 17:30 to 18h30 CET. Elke Meex from OVAM will present this tool.

OVAM

OVAM is the Public Waste Agency of Flanders, which ensures Flanders deals with waste, materials and soil in a well-thought-out and environmentally sound manner. It protects the Flemish soil through official soil quality checks, the prevention of soil contamination and soil remediation. Moreover, it provides help to families and companies in order to reduce and sort their waste correctly. Last but not least, OVAM joins forces with all the inhabitants of Flanders to develop a circular economy to maximise the lifecycle and reuse of products and raw materials.

Most materials end up in the material cycle - from production to use and eventually waste. To use these raw materials more efficiently, OVAM is working on closing this cycle, that will allow to rely on materials longer and limit their environmental impact considerably. Sustainable production and optimal sorting will enable people to jointly give these raw materials a new lease of life, time and time again, thus making Flanders even more aware of the possibilities for the use and reuse of materials.

OVAM's ultimate goal is a true circular economy in which a sustainable management of waste, materials and soil makes new resources as materials, energy and land available.

Unsplash - Dimitri Houtteman

Published on March 23, 2020