Circular Economy Strategies for Construction and Demolition Waste Management: A Systematic Review of Barriers, Technologies, and Implementation Pathways
Keywords:
Construction and Demolition Waste, Circular Economy, Circular Construction, Waste Management, Digital TechnologiesAbstract
Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is one of the most resource-intensive waste streams generated by the built environment, and its management has become central to circular economy transitions. This systematic literature review examines how circular economy strategies are being conceptualized and implemented in CDW management, with specific attention to barriers, enabling technologies, implementation pathways, and future research needs. The review was based on a Scopus-derived dataset and followed a structured procedure involving keyword-based searching, eligibility screening, thematic extraction, and integrative synthesis. Evidence was organized into four themes: circular economy strategies, barriers and challenges, technologies and digital tools, and implementation pathways. The review shows that circular CDW management is increasingly moving beyond conventional end-of-pipe recycling toward lifecycle-oriented strategies, including waste prevention, design for disassembly, selective demolition, component reuse, recycled-content procurement, and high-quality material recovery. However, adoption remains constrained by technical barriers, weak secondary-material markets, fragmented regulation, limited stakeholder coordination, low awareness, and insufficient data transparency. Digital technologies such as building information modelling, life-cycle assessment, artificial intelligence, deep learning, blockchain, digital waste recognition, and material passports offer promising support for waste prediction, material traceability, sorting, and circular decision-making. Nevertheless, these technologies require reliable data, interoperability, institutional readiness, and validation in real construction and demolition projects. The review contributes an integrated framework linking circular strategies, barriers, technologies, and implementation pathways. It concludes that the transition to circular CDW management depends on aligning upstream design decisions, policy instruments, business models, stakeholder collaboration, and technology-enabled material-flow governance.
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