International Zero Waste Day 2024

International Zero Waste Day highlights both the importance of minimising waste management globally and the need to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns. Nationally, Ireland generates an average of 14 million tonnes of municipal waste per year.

What does this mean for Ireland and the real estate sector?

In 2021, Ireland recycled only 41% of its municipal waste which means the country is unlikely to hit the EU’s 55% recycling target by 2025. In the context of the Real Estate Industry, the types of waste we need to manage are:

• Construction and demolition waste.
• Operational waste.
• Fitout waste / churn for retail and offices.
  

One of the main Directives currently shaping the industry is the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which is a legal requirement for companies to report and disclose on their ESG activities. Companies in scope recently followed the new CSRD Directive to complete their first double materiality assessment which is compulsory when aligning with the CSRD. From assisting clients with the Double Materiality Assessment, we are seeing that they are concluding that the ESRS E5 Resource Use & Circular Economy standard is material to them, particularly in the Real Estate Sector and are required to disclose the following:

• Report on the material risks, impacts and opportunities in the context of the double materiality.
• Disclose policies and actions related to Resource Use & Circularity.
• Set targets and KPIs for Resource Use & Circularity.
  

The EU Taxonomy (EUT) has also provided guidance on the Circular Economy for the Construction and Real Estate sector and contains ambitious targets for the use of raw and secondary materials, where a maximum of 70% of the materials for building and renovations should come from raw materials to achieve EUT alignment. The EUT will also require the industry to consider its supply chain, placing reporting requirements for not only owners but also tenants within the asset.

How can CBRE help?

To be able to disclose the end of the financial year relevant to the CSRD, companies should start preparing for this well in advance of the year that the CSRD will cover. CBRE has established a four-step process to get companies ready for the disclosure requirement. It is also expected that 94% of companies not within the CSRD scope will have a desire to comply with the requirement to maximise their Sustainability Performance. CBRE can assist with scoping the Disclosure and increasing Sustainability Performance in the context of ESRS E5, as well as supporting the eleven other ESRS standards through the Double Materiality process. The team has experience in monitoring and manging site impacts to assist and ensure companies are supported to achieve their desired Sustainability Performance. CBRE can also assist with EU Taxonomy alignment, which is a disclosure requirement under the CSRD, which is fast proving itself as a central plank for companies wishing to pursue an effective & ambitious ESG strategy.