A Conceptual Model for Assessing Circularity Potential of Building Materials at the Product Manufacturing Stage

Pathberiyage, Nadee Tharaka Dharmasiri and Delzendeh, Elham and Cheung, Franco and Mateo-Garcia, Monica (2023) A Conceptual Model for Assessing Circularity Potential of Building Materials at the Product Manufacturing Stage. In: XVI International Conference on Durability of Building Materials and Components, 2023, China.

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Abstract

The construction industry presently accounts for 30% of natural resource extraction and 25% of solid waste generation. The prevailing economy is “Linear” which is summarised as take-make dispose. On the contrary, the “circular economy” model is a systematic model to restore, regenerate and expand the lifecycle of materials. Most of the existing circularity assessment methods are focused on the end-of-life wastage of building materials while neglecting resource consumption and wastage at the product manufacturing stage. Further, these methods only consider direct material flows for assessing the circularity potential of building materials and overlook the indirect material flows associated with product manufacturing. There is a need to develop metrics to assess the circularity performance of building materials more holistically. Therefore, this study proposes a conceptual model to assess the circularity potential of building materials by analysing both direct and indirect material flow processes of the product manufacturing stage including raw material extraction, transportation, and manufacturing. The method used to design the conceptual model includes a comprehensive literature review in two stages. First, the existing circular assessment methods are reviewed to identify the methods used for assessing the circularity potential of building materials. Secondly, the circularity options are explored to develop the circularity metrics. According to the findings of this study, in the absence of a comprehensive method to assess the circularity potential of building materials, the life cycle assessment and material flow analysis are the most prominent circularity assessment methods used. Furthermore, circularity options such as industrial waste (by-products), biodegradability, biofuels, renewable energy, reusability, recoverability, recyclability and product life span are identified as the circularity metrics for building materials at the product manufacturing stage.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Dates:
Date
Event
15 November 2022
Accepted
15 January 2023
Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords: Circular Economy, Building Materials, Resource Consumption and Waste, Circularity Metrics, Product Manufacturing Stage
Subjects: CAH10 - engineering and technology > CAH10-03 - materials and technology > CAH10-03-07 - materials science
CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-02 - building
Divisions: Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment > College of Built Environment
Depositing User: Elham Delzendehsoumehsarei
Date Deposited: 22 Jan 2024 14:09
Last Modified: 20 Jun 2024 11:45
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/15131

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