IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jwaste/v1y2023i4p54-959d1283700.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Decade Review of Research Trends Using Waste Materials in the Building and Construction Industry: A Pathway towards a Circular Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Haigh

    (Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 3011, Australia)

Abstract

The construction industry is among the most prominent contributors to global resource consumption, waste production, and greenhouse gas emissions. A pivotal step toward mitigating these sectoral impacts lies in the adoption of a circular production and consumption system. The use of alternative waste materials can mitigate landfill accumulation and the associated detrimental environmental effects. To highlight unconventional materials, this study began with a bibliometric assessment via a bibliography analyzis software called “Bibliometrix” (version 4.1.3). The outputs from the analyzis can assist in identifying research trends, gaps in literature and benchmark research performance. The search engine used for sourcing publications was Scopus, using the main criteria as “Waste materials used in building and construction”. The time-period analysed was from 2013 to 2023. The results included publications obtained in journal articles, book chapters and conference proceedings. The assessment reviewed 6238 documents from 1482 sources. The results revealed an array of waste materials; however, rubber, textiles, and ceramics had a significant reduction in research attention. Rubber waste presents promising opportunities in civil concrete construction methods. The preparatory steps of textile fibres in composite materials are frequently disregarded, resulting in structural issues for the end-product. Obstacles persist in ceramic technology due to the absence of transparency, primarily because industry entities closely safeguard proprietary information. While sustainability research often emphasizes emissions, practical trials commonly revolve around integrating materials into current systems. A more comprehensive approach, contemplating the complete lifecycle of materials, could provide deeper insights into fostering sustainable construction practices. Researchers can use these findings when determining trends, research gaps, and future research directions.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Haigh, 2023. "A Decade Review of Research Trends Using Waste Materials in the Building and Construction Industry: A Pathway towards a Circular Economy," Waste, MDPI, vol. 1(4), pages 1-25, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jwaste:v:1:y:2023:i:4:p:54-959:d:1283700
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0391/1/4/54/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0391/1/4/54/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirchherr, Julian & Piscicelli, Laura & Bour, Ruben & Kostense-Smit, Erica & Muller, Jennifer & Huibrechtse-Truijens, Anne & Hekkert, Marko, 2018. "Barriers to the Circular Economy: Evidence From the European Union (EU)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 264-272.
    2. Malindu Sandanayake & Yanni Bouras & Robert Haigh & Zora Vrcelj, 2020. "Current Sustainable Trends of Using Waste Materials in Concrete—A Decade Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-38, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Noushin Islam & Malindu Sandanayake & Shobha Muthukumaran & Dimuth Navaratna, 2024. "Review on Sustainable Construction and Demolition Waste Management—Challenges and Research Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-30, April.
    2. Rohit Agrawal & Vishal A. Wankhede & Anil Kumar & Sunil Luthra, 2021. "Analysing the roadblocks of circular economy adoption in the automobile sector: Reducing waste and environmental perspectives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1051-1066, February.
    3. Francesca Gennari, 2023. "The transition towards a circular economy. A framework for SMEs," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(4), pages 1423-1457, December.
    4. Idiano D’Adamo & Cinzia Daraio & Simone Di Leo & Léopold Simar, 2024. "A Flexible and Sustainable Analysis of Waste Efficiency at the European Level," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 25(4), pages 881-894, December.
    5. P. Giovani Palafox-Alcantar & Dexter V. L. Hunt & Chris D. F. Rogers, 2020. "A Hybrid Methodology to Study Stakeholder Cooperation in Circular Economy Waste Management of Cities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-30, April.
    6. Durán-Romero, Gemma & López, Ana M. & Beliaeva, Tatiana & Ferasso, Marcos & Garonne, Christophe & Jones, Paul, 2020. "Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    7. Patricia van Loon & Luk N. Van Wassenhove & Ales Mihelic, 2022. "Designing a circular business strategy: 7 years of evolution at a large washing machine manufacturer," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1030-1041, March.
    8. Vibeke Grupe Larsen & Valentina Antoniucci & Nicola Tollin & Peter Andreas Sattrup & Krister Jens & Morten Birkved & Tine Holmboe & Giuliano Marella, 2023. "A Methodological Framework to Foster Social Value Creation in Architectural Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-25, January.
    9. Jose García‐Quevedo & Elisenda Jové‐Llopis & Ester Martínez‐Ros, 2020. "Barriers to the circular economy in European small and medium‐sized firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2450-2464, September.
    10. Jeff Mangers & Meysam Minoufekr & Peter Plapper & Sri Kolla, 2021. "An Innovative Strategy Allowing a Holistic System Change towards Circular Economy within Supply-Chains," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.
    11. Lim Sin Ting & Suhaiza Zailani & Noor Zahirah Mohd Sidek & Mohd Rizaimy Shaharudin, 2024. "Motivators and barriers of circular economy business model adoption and its impact on sustainable production in Malaysia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(7), pages 17551-17578, July.
    12. J. Brusselaers & J. Gillabel, 2024. "How Circular Is the European Policy Landscape?," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1559-1585, June.
    13. Gavin Melles, 2021. "Figuring the Transition from Circular Economy to Circular Society in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, September.
    14. Jing Shao, 2019. "Sustainable consumption in China: New trends and research interests," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(8), pages 1507-1517, December.
    15. Joanicjusz Nazarko & Ewa Chodakowska & Łukasz Nazarko, 2022. "Evaluating the Transition of the European Union Member States towards a Circular Economy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, May.
    16. Ángela Triguero & María C. Cuerva & Francisco J. Sáez‐Martínez, 2022. "Closing the loop through eco‐innovation by European firms: Circular economy for sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2337-2350, July.
    17. Concepción Garcés-Ayerbe & Pilar Rivera-Torres & Inés Suárez-Perales & Dante I. Leyva-de la Hiz, 2019. "Is It Possible to Change from a Linear to a Circular Economy? An Overview of Opportunities and Barriers for European Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Companies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, March.
    18. Chembessi Chedrak & Gohoungodji Paulin & Juste Rajaonson, 2023. "“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1593-1612, December.
    19. Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar & Shauhrat S. Chopra, 2022. "Leveraging Blockchain and Smart Contract Technologies to Overcome Circular Economy Implementation Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, August.
    20. Abderahman Rejeb & Karim Rejeb & John G. Keogh & Suhaiza Zailani, 2022. "Barriers to Blockchain Adoption in the Circular Economy: A Fuzzy Delphi and Best-Worst Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-23, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jwaste:v:1:y:2023:i:4:p:54-959:d:1283700. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.