# Policies as Drivers for Circular Economy in the Construction Sector in the Nordics
### Policy Impact on the Operational Environment  
Local CE drivers are created through setting targets and responsibilities in local strategies, by formulating CE guidelines and by setting specific requirements for construction projects. Local policy documents are often a continuation of the national policy framework with similar targets, often including more detailed practices and responsibilities for reaching the targets. Local CE policies are based on local needs and local prospects, aiming to have a local impact, but also to contribute to reaching the targets set by national and EU CE policies. [32] [PERSON] et al. (2017) identifies four key barriers to the CE, i.e., regulatory, culture, technology, and market barriers [10]. However, the same study also identifies policy-makers as the key actors in breaking the barriers and facilitating the transition to a CE via CE-friendly policies.  
Recycling targets for C&DW are set both in the Waste Framework Directive [22], transposed to the national legislation or the waste management plan of the Nordic countries [33; 34; 35; 36]. Recycling targets are a key policy for increasing recycling, but also for the use of secondary raw materials and closing the material loop [14; 15; 16]. Policies can influence recycling rates via, e.g., taxes for landfilling, taxes on virgin materials, encouragement of GPP, end-of-waste criteria, and extended product responsibility or product ownership, supporting the attaining of recycling targets, and other CE activities as well. [3]  
Related to recycling and reuse, construction products containing recovered materials need to comply with product requirements, which do not differentiate between virgin and recovered materials. The Construction Products Regulation (305/2011/EU) requires that all construction products put on the market be CE-marked [37], requiring full knowledge of the material content. This can be hard to acquire for waste feedstock, which is considered one of the key barriers for these activities [14].  
Green public procurement (GPP) has a significant leverage for addressing environmental challenges. The European Commission (EC) has supported this strategic approach by publishing a Communication [38], a GPP handbook [39], and EU GPP criteria to support sustainability in public tendering [40]. The EC has identified the construction sector as a priority sector for GPP; a sector where GPP can significantly contribute to improving the environmental performance [38].  
GPP can facilitate sustainability in construction by promoting closed material loops via the reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling of products and materials, also avoiding their harmful environmental impact. GPP can set requirements on the use of waste-derived materials and thus promote the markets for secondary raw materials and reusable construction products. In demolition, GPP requirements on the reuse and recycling of construction and demolition waste in new construction products will boost the market for recovered materials. [16] The public sector is the key property developer in the Nordics [14], and by using GPP criteria, the public sector can have a great impact on the competitiveness of CE-focused companies [16].  
As an example, to support innovative and sustainable public procurement in Finland, the Finnish Government launched KEINO, a competence centre for sustainable and innovative public procurement. KEINO aims to improve the effectiveness and quality of public procurement and public services [41]. In Finland, a guideline for Public Green Procurement in demolition was published in 2019 by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, intended to be used by municipalities to improve the recycling of C&DW arising from the demolition of public buildings [42].