Barriers of circular economy transition for a construction firm

Abstract: The construction industry is one of the most resource-intensive industries in the world, therefore, scientists, the industry and governments are pushing  for a transition to a Circular Economy (CE) within the industry to address this issue. This study explores the barriers to CE transition within the construction industry, examining how these barriers are perceived by practitioners and contrasting them with academic perspectives in the literature. The barriers identified in the literature were categorized via industrial transition theory based on the regime actors of the Multi-level perspective on transition framework by Geels & Schot (2007) and then aggregated via subcategories based on similarities in barrier definition presented in the literature. By interviewing 8 respondents, 28 barriers to CE transition were found within the categories and subcategories of data coding. The findings revealed that the industry is cautious about CE, which is impeding the drive for transition and affecting further perception and awareness of the concept. Furthermore, it is crucial to investigate barriers individually and how they are interconnected to others, as they collectively contribute to the low and slow progress of industrial transition toward CE in the construction industry.