Towards the circular economy - A qualitative study of the barriers and drivers of reusing materials in the construction industry

Abstract

The building and construction sector uses many raw materials and produces many greenhouse gas emissions. Around 40% of the total greenhouse gas emissions produced globally comes from the construction and building industry. This mainly consists of the use during the life cycle of the building, not only the construction phase but also the production of the materials needed and the transportation of it. Additionally, the construction and building produce an immense quantity of waste. The primary research in this project is about the reuse of materials in the construction industry. This is a method for implementing a circular economy in the construction industry, in which the amount of waste and greenhouse gas emissions can decrease considerably. The project aims to research the drivers and barriers to reusing materials in the construction industry. Reusing materials hasn't been done many times before in Norway. The research focuses on one pilot project in Bergen, Norway and compares some criteria with a project in Cape Town, South Africa. The research question is divided into several questions; one main question aims to understand the drivers and barriers that will probably affect the project. It is not only the materials but also the actors and processes involved in the project are that part of the examination made. At the same time as it is divided into two sub-questions; where the first is about the learning process and how it can help overcome some barriers. And the second is the organisation, how the project's supply chain gets altered, at the same time as it shows ways to overcome the barriers. The collection of data for this project was through a qualitative method, in which both interviews and observations were made. This collected data is used with the literature to discuss the research questions.