The Circular Economy Mandate in Irish Road Construction
The days of “dig it up and dump it” are over.
With the launch of Ireland’s Circular Economy Strategy and the National Waste Management Plan for a Circular Economy (2024–2030), local authorities are now expected to treat construction materials as valuable resources, not disposable by-products.
Nowhere is this shift more visible than in road construction—and particularly in the handling of blacktop planings.
Why Roads Are a Circular Priority
Roads generate some of the highest volumes of reusable material in the public sector. Every resurfacing project produces tonnes of blacktop that—if recovered and reused—can offset the need for costly virgin materials and reduce carbon footprints.
The Department of the Environment and TII now expect:
Material reuse targets in all major roads projects
Digital tracking of removed and reused blacktop
Tender requirements that reflect circular economy performance
This isn’t just policy. It’s becoming enforceable standard.
Councils’ New Responsibilities
Under the circular economy mandate, councils must now:
Proactively plan for material recovery in road projects
Track materials like blacktop from removal to reuse
Require contractors to comply with waste/by-product classification rules
Demonstrate material reuse in audits and procurement evaluations
Circular economy is now a core compliance area, not a voluntary initiative.
The Risk of Inaction
If your council can’t show where removed blacktop went, whether it was reused, or how it was classified, you’re exposed to:
Regulatory non-compliance under the Waste Management Act
Missed targets in national policy reporting
Lower procurement scoring or funding rejections
Hub360: Enabling Circular Compliance in Real Time
Hub360 enables councils to meet these obligations with:
Geo-tracked blacktop movement logs
Reuse summaries per project or contractor
Evidence for CSRD, TII, EPA, and GPP evaluations
Full visibility without added admin
Final Word
The circular economy isn’t coming—it’s already written into your contracts.
If your roads teams aren’t recovering blacktop, tracking it, and reporting on it, your council is falling behind.
Let Hub360 help you close the gap and lead on circular roads.