Enhancing circularity in concrete waste management: a conceptual framework of stakeholder engagement, barriers and strategies for sustainable collaboration

Abstract

Concrete waste accounts for the largest share of global construction and demolition waste, intensifying resource depletion, landfill pressure, and embodied carbon emissions from cement production. The circular economy offers a regenerative pathway through reduction/prevention, reuse, maintenance/repair/refurbishment, and recycling, yet implementation remains limited by socio-organisational challenges. While existing literature has advanced technical aspects of these strategies, stakeholder roles and collaboration in concrete-specific contexts remain fragmented and are often examined within broader construction and demolition waste frameworks. To address this gap, this study conducts a systematic review of 51 studies to examine stakeholder engagement, barriers and strategies in circular concrete waste management (CCWM). Eleven stakeholder groups were identified, and a Responsible-Accountable-Consulted-Informed (RACI) governance framework was applied to map stakeholder roles from design through end-of-life. The findings show that CCWM implementation depends on coordinated life-cycle engagement between primary value chain actors and supporting actors, with persistent gaps in accountability, early contractor involvement, traceability and sustainability performance assessment. The findings further revealed that unclear roles, undervalued expertise, misaligned priorities, regulatory inconsistencies, poor communication and limited knowledge sharing are cross-cutting barriers to collaboration. These barriers are relational than uniform, affecting stakeholders differently and requiring targeted interventions from actors with appropriate leverage. Effective collaboration, therefore, requires integrated mechanisms for capacity building, governance, economic incentives, digital support, and performance monitoring. The study integrates these insights into a socio-technical conceptual framework that links stakeholders, engagement barriers, and pragmatic strategies. This framework supports the diagnosis of coordination failures and prioritization of interventions to strengthen stakeholder collaboration and accelerate circular transitions in the construction sector.