Munich, Germany, May 11, 2026. The German construction industry consumes over 500 million metric tons of raw materials each year for buildings and infrastructure[1]. It is also regarded as the main source of waste. To tackle this, the federal state capital of Munich has adopted an innovative approach as part of its Zero Waste strategy. Its goal is to establish a library of building materials for Munich. The registry will be key to achieving more transparency with regard to the material composition of buildings, and a cornerstone in helping to realistically forecast future material flows in the building sector and re-use them in a way that supports a circular economy.The pioneering construction materials registry is being developed by EPEA GmbH – Part of Drees & Sommer and Madaster Germany. And the data of around 7,500 buildings located in Munich’s Feldmoching-Hasenbergl district has already been captured.
Concrete walls, wooden beams, bricks: our buildings and streets are full of raw materials. When demolished or dismantled, these have so far ended up as waste or have only been partially recycled into lower-grade products: old bricks are used as road fill, window glass is turned into bottles and timber frames into pellets. “So far, these materials have hardly ever been re-used at the same quality level in Germany. One of the main reasons for this is that we often have no idea what our buildings really consist of,“ explains Dr. Matthias Heinrich, expert for urban mining at EPEA GmbH – Part of Drees & Sommer.
In order to get an answer to this question, EPEA GmbH and Madaster Germany have jointly developed the Urban Mining Screener, a digital tool that enables a rapid and sound analysis of materials. “A few initial details, such as the year and place of construction or the type of property, are used to roughly estimate the material composition of buildings and entire neighborhoods. The result is a catalog of building materials. This registry delivers transparency of the resources used and their circular potential,” adds Sarah-Caitleen Sauer, Head of Public Sector & Architecture at Madaster Germany. She points out that not only the materials used are systematically recorded but also the quantities included in the buildings, and the volumes that can be re-used after conversion, demolition or dismantling.
Munich – a Pioneer in Urban Mining
The targets of Munich’s Zero Waste strategy are to save resources and to minimize the amount of waste. Bavaria’s capital city has set itself the objective of reducing its household waste by 15 percent by 2035 and total residual waste by 35 percent . The concept comprises more than 100 actions in different areas, including the construction sector. The definition of Munich’s ‘library of building materials’ describes the implementation of a materials register tool, for testing purposes, as an important milestone that enables an analysis of the measures taken and helps to assess the functionalities and features of an online registry for materials and products.
According to information provided by Munich’s Climate and Environmental Protection Department, the city uses approximately 47 million metric tons of raw materials per year. Around 60 percent of all waste in Munich comes from the construction and infrastructure sectors. The Zero Waste Coordination Unit comments: “A considerable part of Munich’s waste comes from construction and demolition activities. So, the biggest potential lies in a significant reduction in the use of resources. The building materials registry is seen as a cornerstone to achieve this objective. It is being developed in cooperation with EPEA and Madaster Germany. The capital city of Bavaria is among the first cities in Germany to pilot and test an online registry for building materials and products.”
A Pilot Project Shows the Potential for Circularity
In a pilot project conducted together with Munich’s Zero Waste Coordination Unit and the city’s Geodata Service, the municipal department has successfully tested the digital Urban Mining Screener tool and created the first building materials register of the Feldmoching-Hasenbergl district. The registry can be enlarged and flexibly extended to other urban areas.
The expert teams from EPEA and Madaster have recorded a total of around 7,500 buildings located in the Feldmoching-Hasenbergl district. The analysis shows that more than 4.4 million metric tons of concrete, 200,000 metric tons of metal and numerous other building materials have been used for construction in this area. These materials are currently tied up in the existing stock of buildings. However, they represent an important urban raw materials warehouse, and they will play a key role in ensuring a sustainable supply of raw materials in the region of Munich.
Dr. Matthias Heinrich points out: “The recording of materials has represented the first step only. Now, this repository must be systematically managed within the framework of a proactive and sustainable utilization plan for material flows. Our aim is to reduce, as much as possible, the emissions of carbon dioxide, the use of raw materials and the creation of waste.”
During the course of the project, the results and findings will be presented and discussed in Munich. The outcomes can also be integrated in other projects relating to Munich’s circular economy strategy, as for example the EU-funded Circular Construction Finance (CirCoFin) project or the Urban Mining Munich Initiative (UMMI) that promotes the use of recycled materials in the city. The Zero Waste concept and the circular economy strategy of the city of Munich provide innovative approaches to circular building and the reduction of waste from demolition work.
For more information, please visit the websites: Madaster Germany and Zero Waste Fachstelle München (in German, Zero Waste Coordination Unit )
Sources:
2. Zero Waste Konzept für die Landeshauptstadt München. Gesamtkonzept|08.06.2022