Strategies for a Circular Economy in the Construction and Demolition Sector: Identifying the Factors Affecting the Recommendation of Recycled Concrete

Abstract

With increasing urbanisation, new approaches such as the Circular Economy (CE) are needed to reduce resource consumption. In Switzerland, Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste accounts for the largest portion of waste (84%). Beyond limiting the depletion of primary resources, implementing recycling strategies for C&D waste (such as using recycled aggregates to produce recycled concrete (RC)), can also decrease the amount of landfilled C&D waste. The use of RC still faces adoption barriers. In this research, we examined the factors driving the adoption of recycled products for a CE in the C&D sector by focusing on RC for structural applications. We developed a behavioural framework to understand the determinants of architects’ decisions to recommend RC. We collected and analysed survey data from 727 respondents. The analyses focused on architects’ a priori beliefs about RC, behavioural factors affecting their recommendations of RC, and project-specific contextual factors that might play a role in the recommendation of RC. Our results show that the factors that mainly facilitate the recommendation of RC by architects are: a senior position, a high level of RC knowledge and of the Minergie label, beliefs about the reduced environmental impact of RC, as well as favourable prescriptive social norms expressed by clients and other architects. We emphasise the importance of a holistic theoretical framework in approaching decision-making processes related to the adoption of innovation, and the importance of the agency of each involved actor for a transition towards a circular construction sector.

Exploring UAE's transition towards circular economy through construction and demolition waste management in the pre-construction stage–A case study approach

“…As shown in the previous studies, materials with low embodied energy, such as waste materials and by-products, can be utilised for the 3DPC mixture to add value (Hager et al, 2016;Siddika et al, 2020). In addition, using recycled materials in construction and 3DPC greatly contribute to achieving CE targets (Hager et al, 2016;Superti et al, 2021). As stated by Gernal et al (2020) and Mawed et al (2020), there is a notable usage of recycled materials for construction projects in the UAE.…”

“…In addition, using recycled materials in construction and 3DPC greatly contribute to achieving CE targets (Hager et al. , 2016; Superti et al. , 2021).…”

“…preconstruction stage) (e.g. Faniran and Caban, 1998;Tam and Hua, 2014;Superti et al, 2021). Yeheyis et al (2013) stated that proper management of material delivery, storage and waste accounting are the best practices to minimise material wastage at site.…”

Prácticas de circularidad en la gestión de los Residuos de Construcción y Demolición en el sector de la construcción: una revisión bibliográfica de las estrategias y los elementos clave en su implementación

“…El diseño es una etapa del proceso constructivo que permite mejorar los planes de gestión de manejo integral de los RCD y comprender el comportamiento de los materiales empleados en las obras, a su vez se puede estimar la cantidad probable de residuos generados durante el ciclo de vida especialmente cuando este ha cumplido su tiempo de vida útil, mediante la implementación de estrategias que permiten la recolección de información proyectada (34,35). Esto permite la posibilidad del análisis de la cantidad de residuos de construcción y demolición generado e identificación de estrategias para mitigar los impactos sociales, ambientales y económicos y da paso a la generación de recomendaciones para fortalecer la normativa vigente en la generación de una conciencia que fortalezca las prácticas de circularidad dentro de las organizaciones (36,37).…”

Study on the Effect of Recycled Coarse Aggregate on the Shrinkage Performance of Green Recycled Concrete

“…Therefore, achieving the use of the resources in construction waste has become an issue that needs to be addressed urgently. Many studies have proved that construction waste can be used as raw materials for preparing recycled coarse aggregate (RCA), which can replace natural coarse aggregate (NCA) [8][9][10]. It is worth noting that the performance of green recycled concrete prepared by RCA is usually far inferior to that of natural aggregate concrete (NAC) [11][12][13].…”