Abstract
The circular economy in the construction sector in emerging economies is one of the most promising concepts that aims to keep the value of the construction materials and structures as long as possible. The construction industry is rapidly developing in Kazakhstan with a yearly increase in projects. This research paper investigates the construction sector in Kazakhstan in terms of the potential application of circular economy principles by local stakeholders—clients, contractors, designers, and manufacturers. As limited research has been conducted on the circularity within the construction environment, including construction parties, this paper aims to fill this research gap. It seeks to identify the construction trends and perform a barrier and opportunity analysis to develop circular economy principles in the construction sector. As a research method, PEST is used for the study of local construction trends. At the same time, stakeholders are interviewed using semi-structured surveys organized according to the ReSOLVE framework (regenerate, share, optimize, loop, virtualize, and exchange) to identify the barriers and opportunities for circular economy in the construction sector. As an outcome of this study, the most common barriers and opportunities were associated with the economic benefit factor, as this was the main motivation for the stakeholders to save construction materials for reuse or to refuse more eco-friendly technologies. Additionally, policy recommendations for companies involved in the construction ecosystem were provided according to the assessment of found barriers and opportunities in the context of the ReSOLVE framework. This analysis has shown that for most stakeholders of the Kazakhstani construction sector, virtualization is of the highest priority; therefore, opportunities for its development are recommended. Future research could focus on the development of economically feasible solutions for the circular economy in construction with the inclusion of virtualization technologies.
Highlights
Circular economy (CE) in the construction sector is an innovative business model concept emerging due to increasing concern towards keeping and restoring the value of construction materials and structures and minimizing construction and demolition waste (C&DW)
This study aims to identify the construction trends in Kazakhstan for their alignment towards the circular economy and assesses them from political, economic, social, and technological points of view
Their area of expertise or practice is related to sustainable construction methods in some ways, and they have already applied relevant methodologies in practice
Summary
Circular economy (CE) in the construction sector is an innovative business model concept emerging due to increasing concern towards keeping and restoring the value of construction materials and structures and minimizing construction and demolition waste (C&DW). The primary purpose of CE is to save the value of buildings and their components and eliminate the C&DW as much as possible [1]. It comprises the whole life-cycle of the building construction process, starting from building design, building materials and components production, building use, and end-of-use demolition. CE principles cover such aspects as reuse of materials, optimization of supply chain and a number of needed materials, improving planning and design stage, applying new eco-friendly technologies. It has a great potential to reduce carbon emissions and total waste from the construction industry. Most of the construction waste loses its value rather than continuing to be reused
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