Platforms of second-hand building material: A hub in the circular economy or fantasies of entrepreneurs?

All around the western world “platforms” for capture and redistribution of second-hand building materials are emerging, tapping into a rhetoric of circular economy. A development crucial for an acceleration of climate change mitigation. Adopting a combination of institutional theory and product platform concepts from a mass customization discourse, we study some of the building material platforms present in Europe within an explorative abductive framework. Empirically we use interviews, internet screening and document analysis in a 3-year longitudinal fashion. The results show that so far, none of these platforms is reaching the volumes, commercialization and documentation of recovered material matching the EU ambitions of recycling, such as stated in the European taxonomy for sustainable financing. The platforms are struggling to implement circularity facing institutional challenges such as, collaboration, supply chain, distribution of roles, transfer of liability, financing structure, and forms of ownership. Attempts to build platforms without a physical flow of materials have run into limitations. As has also small start-ups, a set up that does not sit well with the requirement of circular flows. On the other hand, alliances with institutional players - demolishers, logistics companies, re- or upcycling companies- with integrated digital support- seem to support their development.