A Study on Assessing Circular Economic Practices in the Construction Sector

Abstract

Circular economic practices are encouraged in several sectors, including the construction sector. These practices and related performances are assessed by using indicators. In general, indicators play a significant role in measuring performance / effect of actions and operations, which can then lead to devise plans to improve the performance in the future. This paper looks at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction sector. In this context, indicators can play a role in supporting a systematic understanding of how circular economy practices are perceived and adopted among SMEs in the construction sector. In this study a set of indicators from an established framework is applied with modifications and evaluated. Since this study is connected to a project, the indicators are categorized to fit the project's context, and their relevance is evaluated based on input from representatives from the SMEs who participated in this study. By ranking a set of indicators, we gain insight into which aspects of circular economy (which indicators) are currently perceived as most important or applicable. This insight can help to prioritize areas for further investigation and practical application within the project. This paper is based on a part of a technology acceptance study for circular economy (CE). It focuses on the development and categorization of indicators to evaluate circularity mechanisms (CM), recycling techniques (RT) and technology knowledge (TK) within the SMEs in the construction sector. Quantitative method was applied in this study. In this regard, a questionnaire was used to obtain data from potential respondents. The findings reveal, among other things, that indicators related to organizational and strategic drivers, particularly handling human resource, social circularity, and policy & regulation adoption, are perceived as the most relevant and/or consistently understood. These results suggest that SMEs demonstrate relatively high maturity or a strong degree of prioritization regarding general / overall organizational awareness, strategic alignment, and stakeholder engagement with CE principles.