Doing More with Less: Resource Efficiency in Infrastructure
What is Resource Efficiency?
Materials are getting harder to source, more expensive and more closely scrutinised, and infrastructure clients are asking sharper questions about where they come from and what happens to them at end-of-life. Resource efficiency is how projects respond. Resource efficiency is the practice of using materials, energy and other natural resources effectively while minimising waste. It means optimising resource use across the lifecycle of a product or asset, from design and production through use and end-of-life. Because raw materials are finite, reducing demand for virgin materials and retaining the value of existing resources are central to improving resource efficiency across infrastructure. This article focuses specifically on material use, waste management and circularity within resource efficiency.
Often treated separately, material circularity, waste diversion, and reuse and recycling are brought together through resource efficiency.
The waste hierarchy prioritises avoiding and reducing waste, followed by resource recovery through reuse and recycling, energy recovery, treatment and disposal.
Material circularity takes a systemic view, seeking to retain the value of products, components and materials for as long as possible.
Together, these concepts form the basis of resource efficiency, supporting more effective material use while reducing waste and retaining material value for longer.
Where Australia Sits
Progress towards a more circular economy has been modest. For infrastructure projects, that gap is both a risk and an opportunity. As material costs rise and client expectations tighten, teams that get ahead of it now stand to save money and build a stronger case with clients and regulators later. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s circularity rate, which measures the proportion of secondary materials used in the economy over a year, was 4.3% in 2024, up from 3.7% in 2010. Australia's Circular Economy Framework aims to double circularity by 2035 and identifies the built environment as one of four priority sectors alongside agriculture and food, industry and resources.
Australia’s material use and recovery rates also reflect the scale of this challenge. Using 2019 data, CSIRO estimated that Australia recycled 39 million tonnes of materials, about half of all materials collected through municipal, industrial and construction waste schemes. The analysis also found that Australia’s circularity rate was approximately half the global average while housing and transport together accounted for half of the country’s material footprint. These findings highlight the significant opportunity to improve resource efficiency across the built environment and infrastructure sectors.
Where the Infrastructure Industry Can Lead
Infrastructure has a significant opportunity to improve resource efficiency by influencing how materials are selected, used, maintained and recovered across the lifecycle. The following opportunities show how to put this into practice across the asset lifecycle.
Make smart decisions early
Choices made during planning and design, such as specifying suitable secondary or recycled materials, can reduce demand for virgin resources. Infrastructure Australia’s 2022 Replacement Materials report estimated that, under the current-state scenario and based on the technology and standards available at that time, approximately 27% of the conventional material tonnage required for 998 road projects between 2015 and 2031 could be replaced with recycled alternatives. That's a meaningful share of project spend that could shift from virgin materials to recovered ones, easing exposure to price volatility and supply risk. Realising this opportunity will depend on infrastructure projects creating consistent demand for recovered materials and effectively using the supply already available.
Resource recovery is already significant in construction and demolition. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water reports that Australia generated 26.8 million tonnes of building and demolition waste in 2022-23, with 84% (22.4 million tonnes) recovered. It identifies established markets for recycled aggregate in road base, aggregate and hardstand applications, and notes that properly processed material consolidates well.
Reuse before replacing
Maintaining, repairing and retrofitting existing assets can extend their useful lives and reduce demand for new or virgin materials. It can also avoid some of the costs and impacts associated with demolition, replacement and waste transport. For asset owners, that can mean lower lifecycle costs and less disruption to services while works are underway. Where removal is unavoidable, plan deconstruction with future use in mind so suitable components and materials can be recovered rather than sent to landfill.
Design for End-of-life
Owner-operators can achieve more value from components and equipment when assets are designed from the outset for durability, adaptability, maintenance and disassembly. Getting this right also makes assets more resilient to future disruption, whether that's a supply shortage or a change in how the asset is used. Considering end-of-life early improves the prospects for reuse, refurbishment or recycling.
Frameworks That Drive Progress
Rating and sustainability frameworks can drive progress by translating resource-efficiency objectives into measurable project requirements and evidence. Some examples include:
Green Star addresses the selection, use, reuse and efficiency management of building and fit-out materials.
The Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Rating scheme assesses infrastructure sustainability across planning, design, construction, and operation. Resource Efficiency and Management credits cover resource strategy, contaminated materials, acid sulphate soils, resource recovery, adaptability and end-of-life, material life cycle impacts and sustainability labelled products.
Transport for NSW Sustainable Design Guidelines (SDGs) set project sustainability requirements, including credits for resource efficiency, waste diversion and reuse.
These frameworks give projects a structured way to identify and respond to the resource efficiency requirements most relevant to their scope, contract, and rating pathway.
Turning Intent into Evidence
The difference between good intentions and real progress is measurable evidence. A practical pathway lets a project measure, monitor, and verify its resource efficiency outcomes throughout delivery. Some of the pathways are:
Establish baselines and set targets
Define the assessment boundary and reference case for the project, then quantify the virgin and recycled material content, reuse, waste generation and landfill diversion. Set project-specific targets using consistent measures and values.
Embed requirements early
Translate the targets into design briefs, specifications, tender schedules and contracts, and state what evidence suppliers must provide. Product credentials can support these decisions. For example, Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) is a third-party-certified lifecycle ecolabel, while an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) serves a different purpose. Rather than certifying sustainability, an EPD is an independently verified declaration based on lifecycle assessment that reports quantified environmental impacts, resource use and waste, and output flows across a product's lifecycle.
Collect, monitor and verify
Maintain material and waste registers or trackers supported by documentation such as project records, relevant certifications, EPDs and delivery dockets. Compare actual results with the baselines and targets at agreed project stages, explain significant variances and report outcomes consistently. This creates an evidence trail for quantifying improvements, rating submissions, client reporting and any future project decisions.
The Path Forward
Resource efficiency is not just about managing waste. It begins with decisions made during planning and design and continues through procurement, construction, operation and end-of-life. By reducing reliance on virgin materials, increasing reused and recycled content and designing assets for adaptability and recovery, the infrastructure industry can keep materials in use for longer and send less to landfill.
Progress can be limited by inconsistent data, uneven availability of recycled materials, and resource-efficiency requirements introduced too late. Addressing these challenges requires clear targets, defined responsibilities and a reliable evidence trail from the outset.
None of this needs to be complicated, and the upside is real: teams that build resource efficiency in early tend to spend less, waste less and end up with more resilient assets.
Perspektiv works alongside project teams to turn these principles into measurable action by establishing baselines, developing resource efficiency strategies, facilitating workshops on resource strategies, adaptability, and end-of-life, assessing design and procurement options, defining evidence requirements, and setting up practical tracking processes. Over the long term, these measures can reduce material costs, minimise waste, improve asset adaptability and strengthen resilience to supply chain constraints. Consistently measuring and reporting outcomes also creates reliable project benchmarks, helping the wider infrastructure industry understand what strong resource-efficiency performance looks like and adopt proven approaches on future projects.
Want to learn more about resource efficiency and how we can help your project? Contact us today.
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