Max Russell

In this interview, Max discusses his journey, expertise, and insights on driving sustainability in the construction sector, emphasizing collaboration, innovative solutions, and the path to net zero.
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Introducing Max Russell‍

Max is a Senior Consultant within Arup's Climate and Sustainability Services. In his professional career, Max has gained a broad experience in working with clients and stakeholders across the urban and built environment to support the transition towards an environmentally sustainable future.

With a Masters in Urban Management and Development, Max has found the circular economy as a powerful concept that can support suppliers, buildings, cities, and societies to meet our increasingly important environmental and climate targets.
Considering circularity touches almost every part of our physical and lived world; encouraging us to think about what we make, and how we make it, and the wider environmental and social impacts.

To gain a deeper insight into his journey, experiences and vision for the future, Max shares his thoughts on the complexity of sustainability transitions and the collaborative efforts required to achieve them.

‍QN: Why is it important for you, on a personal note and as an organization, to be a part of the CBC?

A: Personally, it is in line with the principles of the transition to a more environmentally sustainable and socially just future. It's clear that a mere technological fix from a single organisation or within a single silo will not suffice. If we are to limit climate change, we need more systemic change. We are committed to innovative collaboration and new approaches to doing business. The Coalition exemplifies this commitment by putting these principles into action. It's not just about technical design, but also about fostering collaboration and alignment across different organisations. Establishing a clear and common language and sharing insights and knowledge is essential as time is running out to make a significant impact on this transition. The urgency underlines the need to revolutionise the way we collaborate and work in order to bring about meaningful change.

From Arup's perspective, the transformative potential of a more circular economy is clear. Over the past years, Arup has been the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Built Environment’s knowledge partner. This partnership focuses on collaborative knowledge production that can support the industry to transition such as through the Circular Buildings Toolkit. Collaboration is a principle that runs through much of the work we engage in, and we have well-established partnerships across the industry to support transformative change, including with other CBC members, such as WBCSD and WorldGBC, who are active in a wide range of sustainability and decarbonisation initiatives. The essence of the CBC lies in its embodiment of collective action, transcending individual partnerships to align efforts towards common goals.

Moving from theoretical principles to practical implementation is paramount, especially in promoting circularity, which requires practical experimentation and real-world application. The CBC can play a key role in bringing together supply chain, acting as a facilitator and promoter of solutions and initiatives that can unlock circularity at scale. This collaboration is essential to drive systemic change and address persistent challenges.

The CBC's support for initiatives such as the Blueprint Projects underlines its commitment to testing innovative approaches and overcoming barriers to implementation. By providing a platform for dialogue and breaking down silos, the CBC enables stakeholders to share insights and best practices, ultimately catalysing progress towards a more sustainable future.

‍QN: Are there any specific actions that you would like to see through the CBC over the next two years?

A: It’s an important moment within the circular economy transition to move from concepts to practice; to demonstrate the potential impact of the concept applied across the industry. For this, the Blueprint Projects of the CBC can play an important role; helping to demonstrate and support initiatives, and pilot projects that are working to unlock systemic barriers towards a more circular economy, and showcasing its associated benefits.

Furthermore, it is essential to promote dialogue between different stakeholders along the value chain, from finance to real estate, engineering, design and waste management. Identifying inflection points within the system and providing targeted support for action through the CBC by consolidating the insights of Coalition members is crucial.
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Celebrating successes and addressing common challenges are priorities as we deepen our understanding of the practical benefits of circularity and its real-world applications. By emphasising a continuous learning cycle, we can stimulate curiosity and gather evidence to drive implementation and facilitate a positive feedback loop. This approach allows us to see circularity not as an end in itself, but as an ongoing process of refinement and improvement.

Finally, a key objective is to help identify and diagnose key industry challenges and facilitate communication to promote collaborative solutions and unlock transformative change. By connecting initiatives and stakeholders, we can maximise the impact of circular economy practices and drive sustainable development and innovation across sectors.

‍QN: Talking about driving the transition, what are the levers that we can benefit from now?

A: I think there are at least three critical factors. The first is finance, which includes the financial system and the techniques and financial products needed to enable business models or approaches that are conducive to a more circular economy. This involves working with financial institutions to understand circularity and the value it can create, and to identify the products needed to create different forms of value as opposed to traditional linear business models. For example, circularity advocates for taking a holistic whole life-cycle perspective to materials, components and buildings, and we need financial approaches that are conducive to such a perspective.

Data is another key lever. With the rise of data collection and monitoring, approaches such as material and building passports play a key role in understanding the materials present in the built environment. This includes not only what we consume, but also what is currently available, using concepts such as digital twins to facilitate material reuse and recycling. Data also helps to drive efficiency and innovation in material use through design and building information modelling.

The third lever is policy, which covers a broad spectrum. Across the EU, the Circular Economy Action Plan have been successful in promoting circularity, but translating this into localised systems is crucial. This includes national policies that support circularity, as well as urban planning at the local or regional level to promote circularity in the built environment. There are a variety of instruments within the toolkit such as zoning to enable adaptability and maximise existing assets, and procurement which can act as both a lever and a driver of demand, with government acting as a strong partner to promote circularity in procurement criteria and stimulate the market.

These three levers are essential, and each requires cross-sector collaboration. While there are many other factors to consider, these three go beyond technical solutions to address the broader enablers of sustainable practices.