Developing circularity of construction waste in emerging economies : an environmental Kuznets curve approach

Abstract

In emerging economies, rapid economic development entails massive construction activities, meanwhile producing voluminous construction waste. However, these economies always lack adequate construction waste management (CWM) capability to properly handle their mountainous construction waste. Consequently, they often suffer from serious environmental degradation, preventing them from sustainably progressing to advanced economies. Therefore, developing circularity of construction waste in emerging economies is urgently demanded.

This study aims to investigate how to develop circularity of construction waste in emerging economies with five progressive research objectives, including (1) to pinpoint the status quo of CWM in emerging economies, (2) to investigate the nexus between circularity and CWM by testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, (3) based on the tested hypothesis, to search for the EKC of construction waste circularity and economic development in emerging economies using multiple case studies, (4) informed by the EKC found, to derive useful lessons on developing circularity of construction waste for emerging economies from multiple case studies, and (5) based on the lessons learnt from case studies, to derive general strategies for emerging economies to develop circularity of construction waste. Aligning with the research aim and objectives, a mixed-method approach combining both qualitative and quantitative research methods is employed, including literature review, quadratic regression analyses, case studies, site visits, semi-structured interviews and theoretical generalization.

The research finds that the relationship between construction waste generation and economic development presents an inverted-U shape thus validating the EKC hypothesis. Emerging economies often confront a common dilemma of insufficient economy, market, technologies, and government to manage even more voluminous construction waste generation compared with their developed counterparts. By searching hard around the globe, two emerging economies of Shenzhen and Suzhou in China are found referential. By taking them as case studies combining a series of site visits and semi-structured interviews, the research finds that both economies succeeded in (1) developing a strong economy to support circularity, (2) having a deterministic government to push the goal of circularity, (3) developing a thriving construction waste recycling market, and (4) fully utilizing recycling and smart facilitating technologies.

General strategies on developing circularity of construction waste in emerging economies are derived, including (1) implementing both strong government intervention and economic incentive, (2) developing recycling as a point of departure, (3) harnessing the value of smart technologies, and (4) adjusting the degree of internalized and externalized government interventions depending on corresponding development stages. EKC is found indicative and powerful to analyze circularity of construction waste, whereby sensible circular economy strategies can be developed and gauged.

This research has significant theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically, it contributes to the EKC hypothesis by extending its boundary of validity to CWM. Practically, this study is of great value on how to deploy targeted strategies for developing circularity in emerging economies. A few limitations are also pointed out in the study, including data unavailability, possibility of omitted variables and attempts of limited regression models in the EKC studies, and so on, demanding more future studies thereof.