Barcelona cements the 5th Circular Construction Summit as Southern Europe’s leading platform to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable built environment

• Over 300 attendees, 16 organizations, and representatives from the public, private, and academic sectors gathered to drive circular economy adoption in construction.
• The City of London and Spotify Camp Nou showcased the main success cases, alongside city-scale circular construction initiatives.
• Four specialized workshops shaped an agenda focused on action and cross-sector collaboration.

Barcelona, December 10, 2025. The 5th Circular Construction Summit, held on December 3 at the Paraninfo of the Escola Industrial (Diputació de Barcelona), brought together more than 300 professionals from across the construction ecosystem. With 10 circular models on display, 4 professional workshops, 4 sponsoring companies, and 3 co-organizers, the Summit has solidified its position as the leading event in Southern Europe for accelerating the transition towards a circular economy in the built environment.

Circular construction: from utopia to strategic necessity

From the very beginning, public representatives emphasized that circular construction is no longer optional but a strategic imperative. Accelerating the shift toward a model decoupled from natural resource consumption was a constant theme.
Filo Cañete (Diputació de Barcelona), Xavier Roca (Government of Catalonia), and Ariadna Llorens (UPC) highlighted the sector’s weight in energy use and waste generation.

Luis Sanz, CEO of Grupo Construcía, stated:
“We are no longer debating whether circularity is necessary. The challenge now is to activate tangible short-term benefits to accelerate adoption.”

The City of London: a benchmark and inspiration for urban innovation

The first thematic block focused on the City of London, introduced by Kerstin Kane (City of London Corporation), who outlined the British capital’s circular strategy and current implementation.

In the conversation that followed, Ignasi Cubiñá (Grupo Construcía & EIG), Nia Bell (Climate Group), and James Adams (Maconda Solutions) agreed that digitalisation—material passports, reliable data, traceability—and public–private collaboration are essential to scaling circular solutions.

Nia Bell highlighted the Climate Group’s work to decarbonise concrete and steel, while Adams stressed the need for data-driven models to act beyond the local level.

Spotify Camp Nou: bringing circularity to major infrastructures

The second thematic block addressed innovation in flagship projects. In the case of Spotify Camp Nou, Jordi Portabella (FC Barcelona) presented the recovery and reuse of over 120,000 tonnes of concrete—positioning the project as an international benchmark for applied circularity.

The subsequent panel, led by Núria Forcada (UPC–Grupo Construcía Chair), explored opportunities in urban mining, soil decontamination, and activating material resources already present in cities.

Albert Gil (Batlleiroig Arquitectura) emphasized:
“Circularity must begin before imagining the project. You first identify the available material stock; then you design.”

Business innovation — and a touch of humor

Companies including Knauf, Interface, Holcim, and Lamp presented their circular business models, demonstrating that industrial innovation is key to transforming the sector.

Eloi Juvillà, Director of Building and Logistics at the Diputació de Barcelona, also spoke about the “Reto Mineral” initiative, aimed at enabling material recovery in urban settings.

To close the morning session, Impro Barcelona added a humorous twist that refreshed the debate and engaged the audience.

Workshops—turning discourse into coordinated action

The 5th Summit hosted four specialized working groups advancing concrete industry challenges:

1. Risk & value: integrating circularity into real estate risk assessment (Grupo Construcía & GBCe).
2. Low-carbon concrete value chain (Concrete Zero).
3. Service-based models: barriers and opportunities, led by EIG with Interface, Knauf, and Ziclick.
4. Urban mining: opportunities for direct window recovery using the Hydro Building Systems / Technal model.

Recognizing innovation: UPC–Grupo Construcía Chair Awards

The event featured the UPC–Grupo Construcía Chair Awards, recognizing innovative circular economy projects in construction and strengthening collaboration between academia and industry to foster solutions with social and environmental impact.

An ecosystem in motion: alliances to transform the sector

The Summit’s conclusions were unanimous: transitioning to circular construction requires collaboration across administrations, developers, contractors, material manufacturers, waste managers, and the financial chain.

As Kerstin Kane noted:
“Urban planning is one of the most powerful levers. It’s not just about reusing materials—it’s about designing healthier, more resilient cities.”

The Summit is held annually, but the activity continues year-round through working groups and collaboration between participating organizations.

V Foro Construcción Circular Grupo Construcía

About the Circular Construction Summit

Organized by Grupo Construcía together with UPC and the Diputació de Barcelona, the Summit has become the go-to space for sharing learnings, concrete solutions, and scalable models—demonstrating that circular construction is both the present and the future of the sector.

About Grupo Construcía

Grupo Construcía is an ecosystem of companies transforming the construction and industrial sectors through the circular economy. Its four companies operate across the full value chain—from investment to material chemistry. With more than 350 employees and offices in Madrid, Barcelona, and Lisbon, the group includes:
• Construcía (pioneers in circular construction)
• Eco Intelligent Growth (EIG) (Circular Economy consultancy and Cradle to Cradle Certified® Accredited Assessment Body)
• Construcía Instalaciones
• Circular Capital (impact investment management)