Kelly Sempels, transitioning from builder to urban miner, embodies a new movement in Leuven aimed at waste reduction and sustainability. The city has outlined 28 action points focused on creating a circular economy, with a strong emphasis on the built environment due to its significant carbon footprint. Led by Deputy Mayor Thomas Van Oppens, Leuven's vision is to recycle and reuse materials from buildings, aligning with broader goals of carbon neutrality by 2050. This initiative has garnished involvement from both workers and volunteers, showcasing community commitment to sustainability.
I love it when I can go to work and learn something new, says the 43-year-old, pointing to a pile of laminate floor tiles in the corner of the terrace house that she is helping to strip. Like how to break wooden floors without actually breaking them.
Our ambition as a city is to become carbon neutral [by 2050], he says. And if you purely look at the impact on climate, buildings play a very large part.
Collection
[
|
...
]