Main Challenges to Concrete Recycling in Practice

Abdulmalek K. Badraddin, Rahimi A. Rahman, Saud Almutairi and Muneera Esa
Additional contact information
Abdulmalek K. Badraddin: Faculty of Civil Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Gambang 26300, Malaysia
Rahimi A. Rahman: Faculty of Civil Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Gambang 26300, Malaysia
Saud Almutairi: Unaizah College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi Arabia
Muneera Esa: School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: While concrete recycling is crucial to protecting the environment, its implementation in practice is low in many countries. This study aims to highlight challenges to concrete recycling. To achieve that aim, the study objectives are (1) to identify the main challenges to concrete recycling in construction projects; (2) to compare the main challenges between small–medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs); and (3) to determine the underlying groups among the main challenges. Potential challenges were identified through a systematic literature review of journal articles and semi-structured interviews with fifteen industry practitioners. Then, the identified challenges were inserted into a questionnaire survey and distributed to industry practitioners. Eighty-nine valid responses were collected and analyzed using the mean score ranking, normalization, agreement analysis, and factor analysis techniques. The analyses show thirteen main challenges to concrete recycling. The main challenges include increased project duration, lack of national programs, lack of comprehensive rules and regulations, increased project cost, low demand for recycled concrete, low cost-effectiveness of concrete recycling, and increased transportation cost. However, there is no consensus on the criticality between SMEs and LEs. For example, increased project cost is the main challenge for SMEs but is only middlingly ranked for LEs. Finally, the main challenges can be categorized into three interrelated groups: people and technical, legal and environmental, and economic challenges. This study contributes to the literature by analyzing challenges that hinder concrete recycling in practice. The findings allow researchers and practitioners to develop strategies to reduce concrete recycling rejection.

Keywords: sustainable development; sustainable construction; waste management; construction and demolition waste; concrete recycling; challenges (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/11077/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/11077/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:19:p:11077-:d:651192

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().