City of Maaseik

Circular demolition in Maaseik: from hospital to green lung

In the fall of 2024, the old hospital in Maaseik, Limburg, was demolished in a circular fashion. It had stood empty since 2017. The city will turn the space into a “green lung”: a city park of more than 1.5 hectares.

Reuse and recycling
Demolition coordinator Vekmo and the services of the city of Maaseik supervised the demolition work. These started in April 2024 and lasted 8 months. During that time, contractor Aclagro made an inventory of reusable materials, such as sinks, partitions and doors. Non-reusable materials the contractor disposed of for high-quality recycling, or were taken back by the manufacturer.

CO2 performance ladder as a guide
What made the demolition even more special? The city of Maaseik used the CO2 performance ladder to assess its contractors. This is a tool that construction companies use to demonstrate that they limit their CO2 emissions as much as possible. The higher the company scored on that ladder, the greater the notional discount on the bid. That gave the contractor a competitive advantage. That way of working was a first for a local government.

Case study for Living Labs Circular Economy
‘The Demolition Team’ of the Circular Demolition Teams project within the Living Labs Circular Economy call followed the project closely. That team wants to make urban mining the standard in demolition projects and encourage working in a 'demolition team.' 

The team will soon launch an online platform, on which it will make available various practical documents and lessons learned from monitored demolition sites. In fall 2025, it will also publish the guide “Demolishing Circularly Together,” in which it explains the forms of collaboration that promote circular demolition.