Full circle corporate real estate: The transformative power of the Stewardship Strategies programme

Abstract

This paper’s purpose is to understand the practical application of values and benefits related to responsible resource management, societal wellbeing, and environmental preservation. Presented herein is the Stewardship Strategies programme.1 Use of this process encourages colleagues of the built-environment to adopt proactive measures related to the dispersal of a company’s furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) and surplus construction materials. This method minimises waste and fosters sustainable resource management. This programme’s chain-of-custody process also positively benefits local communities by providing an encore to office surplus for a second life and by increasing circularity. In particular, the Stewardship Strategies programme is an effective tool when the objective is to sustainably decommission a workplace environment. This comprehensive programme should be considered as an integrated approach to the following six key alternative strategies: reuse, resale, repurpose, recycle, recover, and report + record. This paper presents three real-life case studies that apply these key strategies to promote responsible resource management and their beneficial effects. This article’s scope addresses the challenges present in today’s world regarding the consequences related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which contribute to atmospheric heat retention, and are becoming increasingly manifest in the environment. For this reason, it is important to adopt proactive measures to minimise waste and foster sustainable resource management and circularity to positively impact local communities.