Integrating Circular Economy (CE) Principles into Construction Waste Management (CWM) Through Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM)

Thilina Ganganath Weerakoon, Janis Zvirgzdins (), Sanda Lapuke, Sulaksha Wimalasena and Peteris Drukis
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Thilina Ganganath Weerakoon: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Sauletekio al. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Janis Zvirgzdins: Economics and Business Institute, Riga Technical University, 6 Kalnciema Str., LV-1048 Riga, Latvia
Sanda Lapuke: Economics and Business Institute, Riga Technical University, 6 Kalnciema Str., LV-1048 Riga, Latvia
Sulaksha Wimalasena: Economics and Business Institute, Riga Technical University, 6 Kalnciema Str., LV-1048 Riga, Latvia
Peteris Drukis: Civil Engineering Institute, Riga Technical University, 6A Kipsalas Str., LV-1048 Riga, Latvia

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-24

Abstract: The construction sector is a major contributor to global waste output, with construction and demolition waste (CDW) producing substantial environmental, economic, and logistical challenges. Traditional methods for handling waste in developing countries have failed to implement sustainability concepts successfully, resulting in inefficient resource consumption and increasing landfill reliance. This study develops an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework to integrate circular economy (CE) principles into construction waste management (CWM). The framework evaluates four criteria under economic, environmental, social, and technological categorization and applies expert-based pairwise comparisons to prioritize alternative strategies. To ensure reliability, the results were further validated through sensitivity analysis and cross-validation using complementary MCDM methods, including the TOPSIS, WSM, and WPM. The research attempted to determine the most successful waste management approach by examining critical economic, social, technical, and environmental issues in the setting of Sri Lanka as a case study. A hierarchical model was built, and expert views were gathered using pairwise comparisons to assess the relative importance of each criterion. The results showed that environmental considerations had the greatest relative importance (41.6%), followed by economic (38.4%), technical (12.6%), and social aspects (7.4%). On-site waste segregation appeared as the most suitable method owing to its immediate contribution to sustainability, while off-site treatment, prefabrication, modular construction, and waste-to-energy conversion followed. The research underlines the significance of organized decision-making in waste management and advises incorporating real-time data analytics and artificial intelligence to boost adaptable and sustainable construction practices.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process; circular economy; decision support system; multiple criteria decision-making; sustainable construction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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