**3. Construction waste prevention in the circular economy**

In construction, life cycles significantly reduce material costs and environmental impact. Having said that, mining materials are of great value, provided they are recycled in a quality manner. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation [22] also appreciates

### *Circular Economy - Recent Advances in Sustainable Construction Waste Management DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105050*

the significant benefits of moving toward a circular economy. Their "circular scenario" could reduce Europe's annual net consumption to €32 trillion by 2030, with an additional €0.7 trillion due to the slowdown in financial markets and, €0.5 trillion due to other external issues. Similarly, the EMF [22] discusses €320 billion of "potential investments" for Europe by 2025. They are prone to speculation about the cost of capital and equipment. European GDP is expected to grow by 11% in 2030 and 27% in 2050 if they adopt a circular economy, compared to 4% and 15% in the current circumstances, which is driven by higher consumption, mainly as a result of tight market regulations and huge competition creating issues in the adoption of profitable opportunities in the circular economy. Under the conditions of a circular economy, GDP could increase by 7 percentage points more than the current rate in 2030 and the gap could widen by 12% by 2050. Moreover, the cost-saving for China, if they adopt a circular economy, could be \$5.31 trillion by 2030 and \$11.20 trillion by 2040 [23].

In addition to this economic value, the quality recycling of building materials also significantly reduces the environmental impact of the sector. The construction industry currently accounts for 5% of total CO2 emissions in the Netherlands. Most of them are intended for the production of building materials. Therefore, these emissions would be much lower if recycled materials were used in the construction industry. According to the principles of the circular economy, global greenhouse gas emissions are automatically reduced. Climate change and material use are closely linked. According to Circle Economy [24], 62% of global greenhouse gas emissions (excluding land use and forestry) come from the extraction, processing, and production of goods to meet society's needs; only 38% is spent on providing and using products and services [18]. For example, if the economy became a circular reality, EU emissions would fall by 56% by 2050. The reduction in global pollution will be even greater as the EU stops importing raw materials from non-EU countries, which will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions in these countries. Moreover, the storage of raw materials and the disposal of waste have a negative impact on inventories. These natural areas are important for the preservation of ecosystem services and the natural and cultural heritage.

Many governments and organizations today are primarily concerned with protecting nature from the extraction and disposal of soil and waste. To systematically protect nature, this extraction and production must be stopped completely. This is achieved in a circular economy. Construction has so many facets that companies and administrators can use a variety of strategies to make it more circular. Five main methods:


Although the efforts are being done globally by the stakeholders to control the waste generation, still more robust contributions are needed. The projected global waste generation region-wise is highest in East Asia and the Pacific region i.e.,

500 million tons/year in 2016, which is expected to reach approximately 240 million tons/year in 2030, and 750 million tons/year by 2050 as shown in **Figure 7**.

Despite the benefits of the circular construction sector, there are still four factors hampering its development: market development, measurement methods, policy, and knowledge.

### **3.1 Market development**

The demand for circular construction projects is still very much dependent on public supply because modular or foldable construction projects are often even more expensive than the linear construction approach. The innovative nature and limited range of circular construction solutions lead to higher investment costs. However, it takes years to renovate or tear down the building's savings or benefits. The circular design must therefore create added value to be accepted in the market. In addition, it is important to have a measurement method and more knowledge about this value between builders, builders, financiers, and other parties in the chain.

To talk about the market value of construction waste after recycling, it is expected that with the adoption of circular economy adoption, waste can be minimized by saving \$100 billion per year with improved construction productivity [25]. Moreover, in the USA alone, 76% of construction and demolition waste was recovered and recycled in 2020 which created 681,000 jobs and outnumber the conventional waste disposal jobs 9 to 1, generating \$37.80 billion in wages, and \$5.50 billion in tax revenue collection [26]. As steel is the major element in construction, 650 million tons of steel is recycled and reused

**Figure 7.** *Region-wise projected waste generation [5].*

globally which approximates 98% of recycling and reuse from steel waste [27] and helped generate billions of dollars thus significantly contributing to the economic growth.
