IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bjc/journl/v12y2025i3p1003-1012.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Barriers to the Adoption of the Circular Economy in Zimbabwe’s Construction Industry to Reduce Environmental Degradation

Author

Listed:
  • Panashe Daswa

    (Department of Quantity Surveying, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe)

  • Tafadzwa Kudzai Dzimiri

    (Department of Quantity Surveying, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe)

  • Panashe Heather Mashonganyika

    (Department of Quantity Surveying, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe)

Abstract

The construction sector significantly contributes to global resource consumption, climate change, and waste generation. The circular economy (CE) concept provides a potential solution to these problems. However, several barriers hinder CE adoption in the Zimbabwean construction industry from mitigating environmental degradation. This study sought to evaluate the barriers to the adoption of the circular Economy in the Zimbabwean construction industry to mitigate environmental degradation. Adopting a pragmatic philosophy, the study employed an online questionnaire survey of construction industry professionals, achieving a 64% response rate. The validity of the survey instrument was established through pilot testing. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data, calculate the severity index, and mean scores of the identified barriers. The study concluded that the primary barriers impeding circular economy adoption are high upfront costs, perception of quality and durability of recycled materials, inadequate CE infrastructure, limited expertise, and inadequate support from the government. These findings provide insights for policy makers and key stakeholders, intending to provide actionable insights for promoting a more sustainable and circular construction sector, suggesting the establishment of financial mechanisms such as tax breaks, green bonds, and subsidies to try to mitigate investment costs associated with the adoption of CE.

Suggested Citation

  • Panashe Daswa & Tafadzwa Kudzai Dzimiri & Panashe Heather Mashonganyika, 2025. "Barriers to the Adoption of the Circular Economy in Zimbabwe’s Construction Industry to Reduce Environmental Degradation," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 12(3), pages 1003-1012, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bjc:journl:v:12:y:2025:i:3:p:1003-1012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrsi/digital-library/volume-12-issue-3/1003-1012.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrsi/articles/barriers-to-the-adoption-of-the-circular-economy-in-zimbabwes-construction-industry-to-reduce-environmental-degradation/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anastasiades, K. & Blom, J. & Buyle, M. & Audenaert, A., 2020. "Translating the circular economy to bridge construction: Lessons learnt from a critical literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    2. Dunant, Cyrille F. & Drewniok, Michał P. & Sansom, Michael & Corbey, Simon & Allwood, Julian M. & Cullen, Jonathan M., 2017. "Real and perceived barriers to steel reuse across the UK construction value chain," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 118-131.
    3. Aidana Tleuken & Galym Tokazhanov & Kebir Mohammed Jemal & Ramazan Shaimakhanov & Magzhan Sovetbek & Ferhat Karaca, 2022. "Legislative, Institutional, Industrial and Governmental Involvement in Circular Economy in Central Asia: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-26, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Moins, B. & France, C. & Van den bergh, W. & Audenaert, A., 2020. "Implementing life cycle cost analysis in road engineering: A critical review on methodological framework choices," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    2. Yu Hao & Yingting Wang & Qiuwei Wu & Shiwei Sun & Weilu Wang & Menglin Cui, 2020. "What affects residents' participation in the circular economy for sustainable development? Evidence from China," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 1251-1268, September.
    3. Van Phuc Phan, 2024. "Is a Circular Economy Model for a Developing Country Feasible? A Discussion from the Perspective of Mekong Delta of Vietnam," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 63-74, March.
    4. Cyrine Mrad & Luís Frölén Ribeiro, 2022. "A Review of Europe’s Circular Economy in the Building Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-19, October.
    5. Broto Rauth Bhardwaj & Aakriti Jain, 2024. "Sustainable Export Competitiveness of SMEs Through Circular Economy and Digital Economy," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 120-134, October.
    6. Serdar Durdyev & Kerim Koc & Aidana Tleuken & Cenk Budayan & Ömer Ekmekcioğlu & Ferhat Karaca, 2025. "Barriers to circular economy implementation in the construction industry: causal assessment model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 4045-4081, February.
    7. Liu, Yang & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2023. "How does natural resource abundance affect green total factor productivity in the era of green finance? Global evidence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Ajayi, V. & Pollitt, M .G., 2022. "Green growth and net zero policy in the UK: some conceptual and measurement issues," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2255, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Pan, Haozhi & Sun, Yanhao & Wang, Manheng & Dong, Zian & Wang, Zhen & Zhang, Yina & Zhang, Xiaoling, 2024. "Rising from the ashes: Transitioning towards carbon neutrality through the pathways of circular economy agglomeration," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    10. Sehrish Atif & Shehzad Ahmed & Muhammad Wasim & Bassam Zeb & Zeeshan Pervez & Lorraine Quinn, 2021. "Towards a Conceptual Development of Industry 4.0, Servitisation, and Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-27, June.
    11. Malik, Ashish & Sharma, Piyush & Sharma, Piyush & Vinu, Ajayan & Karakoti, Ajay & Kaur, Kamalpreet & Gujral, Harpreet Singh & Munjal, Surender & Laker, Benjamin, 2022. "Circular economy adoption by SMEs in emerging markets: Towards a multilevel conceptual framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 605-619.
    12. Victoria Akberdina & Wadim Strielkowski & Natalia Linder & Sergey Kashirin & Lyudmila Shmeleva, 2023. "Information Technology and Digital Sufficiency for Building the Sustainable Circular Economy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, January.
    13. Rafaela Tirado & Adélaïde Aublet & Sylvain Laurenceau & Guillaume Habert, 2022. "Challenges and Opportunities for Circular Economy Promotion in the Building Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-17, January.
    14. Carlos Novaes & Rui Marques, 2023. "Are Rainwater and Stormwater Part of the Urban CE Efficiency?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-14, July.
    15. Islam, Md. Monirul & Mahmudul Alam, Md. & Sohag, Kazi, 2025. "Recycling through technology diffusion for circular economy in Europe: A decomposed assessment," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    16. Petar Sabev Varbanov & Hon Huin Chin & Alexandra-Elena Plesu Popescu & Stanislav Boldyryev, 2020. "Thermodynamics-Based Process Sustainability Evaluation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-28, April.
    17. Mutezo, G. & Mulopo, J., 2021. "A review of Africa's transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy using circular economy principles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    18. Mhatre, Purva & Gedam, Vidyadhar V. & Unnikrishnan, Seema, 2021. "Material circularity potential for construction materials – The case of transportation infrastructure in India," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Luthra, Sunil & Kumar, Anil & Sharma, Manu & Arturo Garza-Reyes, Jose & Kumar, Vikas, 2022. "An analysis of operational behavioural factors and circular economy practices in SMEs: An emerging economy perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 321-336.
    20. Kostas Anastasiades & Thijs Lambrechts & Jaan Mennes & Amaryllis Audenaert & Johan Blom, 2022. "Formalising the R of Reduce in a Circular Economy Oriented Design Methodology for Pedestrian and Cycling Bridges," J, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-17, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bjc:journl:v:12:y:2025:i:3:p:1003-1012. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Renu Malsaria (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijrsi/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.