Articles
| Open Access | Circularity in Construction: Integrative Strategies for Reuse, Recycling, and Procurement to Achieve Low-Carbon, Resource-Efficient Built Environments
John M. Harrington , Global Institute for Sustainable Built Environments, University of Edinburgh, United KingdomAbstract
This paper synthesizes theoretical foundations, empirical evidence, and strategic frameworks for advancing circular economy practices in the construction and demolition (C&D) sector. It draws exclusively on the provided body of literature to examine the technical, organizational, procurement, and policy dimensions of material reuse, recycling, and adaptive design. The structured abstract presents background, objectives, methods, key results, and implications. Background: The built environment is a major consumer of material resources and contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and C&D waste streams present both environmental burdens and resource opportunities (Hamilton et al., 2022). Objective: To produce a comprehensive, publication-ready analysis that integrates material technologies, supply-chain procurement innovations, durability and performance assessments, and strategic project-level sustainability approaches to support systemic transition to circular construction practices (Aarseth et al., 2017; Benachio et al., 2020). Methods: A rigorous narrative synthesis and conceptual integration of thematic findings from research on salvaging timber, recycled aggregates, wood-plastic composites, building services reuse, procurement innovation, and regionally focused circular frameworks (Godina et al., 2025; Pecur et al., 2014; Turku et al., 2016; Webb et al., 2000; Bao et al., 2019; Véliz et al., 2025; Nadazdi et al., 2022). Results: The literature indicates a multi-scalar pathway to circular construction comprising (1) material-technical strategies—salvage and repurposing of structural timber, reuse of building services components, and recycling into engineered composites; (2) procurement and supply-chain mechanisms—procurement 4.0, strategic procurement agendas, and local circular markets; and (3) project-level sustainability strategies that embed circular goals from design through deconstruction (Godina et al., 2025; Bag et al., 2020; Al-Sinan & Bubshait, 2022; Aarseth et al., 2017). Discussion: Successful transition requires aligning durability performance evidence, regulatory incentives, and buyer-supplier contracting innovations while confronting technical barriers (material heterogeneity, quality assurance) and socio-institutional barriers (awareness, market incentives) (Pecur et al., 2014; Adams et al., 2017). Conclusion: A systems-oriented approach that couples rigorous material characterization, procurement transformation, and strategic project-level interventions offers a realistic and scalable route toward low-carbon, resource-efficient built environments; policy and industry leadership are essential in operationalizing circular practices at scale (Benachio et al., 2020; Bertin et al., 2019). Keywords: circular economy, construction and demolition waste, material reuse, procurement, timber salvage, recycled aggregate, building services reuse.
Keywords
Circular economy, construction and demolition waste, material reuse
References
Hamilton, I.; Kennard, H.; Rapf, O.; Kockat, J.; Zuhaib, S.; Toth, Z.; Barrett, M.; Milne, C.; Delmastro, C.; Monschauer, et al. The Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction; United Nations Environment Programme: Nairobi, Kenya, 2022; ISBN 978-92-807-3984-8.
Véliz, K.D.; Busco, C.; Walters, J.P.; Esparza, C. Circular Economy for Construction and Demolition Waste in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of Chile: A Delphi Analysis. Sustainability 2025, 17, 1057. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17010507
Nadazdi, A.; Naunovic, Z.; Ivanisevic, N. Circular Economy in Construction and Demolition Waste Management in the Western Balkans: A Sustainability Assessment Framework. Sustainability 2022, 14, 871. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020871
Godina, M.; Gowler, P.; Rose, C.M.; Wiegand, E.; Mills, H.F.; Koronaki, A.; Ramage, M.H.; Shah, D.U. Strategies for Salvaging and Repurposing Timber Elements from Existing Buildings in the UK. Journal of Cleaner Production 2025, 489, 144629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.144629
Gnatiuk, L.; Novik, H.; Melnyk, M. Recycling and Upcycling in Construction. Theory Practice Design 2022, 25, 130–139.
Kralj, D.; Markič, M. Building Materials Reuse and Recycle. WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development 2008, 4, 409–418.
Webb, R.S.; Thomson, D.S.; Kelly, J.R. Building Services Component Reuse: A Response to the Need for Adaptability. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 2000, 21, 91–97.
Turku, I.; Keskisaari, A.; Kärki, T.; Puurtinen, A.; Marttila, P. Characterization of Wood Plastic Composites Manufactured from Recycled Plastic Blends. Composite Structures 2016, 161, 469–476.
Bertin, I.; Lebrun, F.; Braham, N.; Le Roy, R. Construction, Deconstruction, Reuse of the Structural Elements: The Circular Economy to Reach Zero Carbon. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 2019, 323, 012020.
Pecur, I.B.; Štirmer, N.; Milovanovic, B. Durability Properties of Recycled Aggregate Concrete. In Proceedings of the RILEM International Workshop on Performance-Based Specification and Control of Concrete Durability, Zagreb, Croatia, 11–13 June 2014; pp. 191–198, ISBN 978-2-35158-135-3.
Aarseth, W.; Ahola, T.; Aaltonen, K.; Okland, A.; Andersen, B. Project sustainability strategies: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Project Management 2017, 35(6), 1071–1083.
Adams, K.T.; Osmani, M.; Thorpe, T.; Thornback, J. Circular economy in construction: current awareness, challenges and enablers. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Waste and Resource Management 2017, 170(1), 15–24.
Afshari, A.R.; Górecki, J. Circular economy in construction sector. 2019.
Al-Sinan, M.A.; Bubshait, A.A. The procurement agenda for the transition to a circular economy. Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11528. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811528
Bag, S.; Wood, L.C.; Mangla, S.K.; Luthra, S. Procurement 4.0 and its implications on business process performance in a circular economy. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2020, 152, 104502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104502
Bao, Z.; Lu, W.; Chi, B.; Yuan, H.; Hao, J. Procurement innovation for a circular economy of construction and demolition waste: lessons learnt from Suzhou, China. Waste Management 2019, 99, 12–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.09.005
Bardy, R.; Hillebrand, A. Procurement strategies in multi-layered supply chains. INTECH Open Access Publisher, 2011.
Bechtel, N.; Bojko, R.; Völkel, R. Be in the loop: circular economy and strategic sustainable development. 2013.
Benachio, G.L.F.; Freitas, M.D.C.D.; Tavares, S.F. Circular economy in the construction industry: a systematic literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 260, 121046. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121046
Kanther, S. Circular Framework in the Design & Planning Phase of Construction. Full-Text Theses & Dissertations, 2025. Jefferson Digital Commons. https://jdc.jefferson.edu/diss_masters/47
Acquaye, A.A.; Duffy, A.P.J.B. Input–output analysis of Irish construction sector greenhouse gas emissions. 2010.
Ahankoob, A.; Khoshnava, S.M.; Rostami, R.; Preece, C. BIM perspectives on construction waste reduction. Management in Construction Research Association (MiCRA) Postgraduate Conference, 2012.
Al-Hajj, A.; Hamani, K. Material waste in the UAE construction industry: Main causes and minimization practices. 2011.
Allwood, J.M. Squaring the circular economy: The role of recycling within a hierarchy of material management strategies. Handbook of Recycling. Elsevier, 2014.
Article Statistics
Downloads
Copyright License
Copyright (c) 2025 John M. Harrington

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.