The Key Strategies to Implement Circular Economy in Building Projects—A Case Study of Taiwan

Abstract

The building industry is blamed for consuming enormous natural resources and creating massive solid waste worldwide. In response to this, the concept of circular economy (CE) has gained much attention in the sector in recent years. Many pilot building projects that implemented CE concepts started to appear around the world, including Taiwan. However, compared with the pilot projects in the Netherlands, which are regarded as the pioneer ones by international society, many CE-related practices are not implemented in pilot cases in Taiwan. To assist future project stakeholders to recognize what the key CE-related practices are and how they could be implemented in their building projects in Taiwan, this study has conducted a series of case studies of Dutch and Taiwanese pilot projects and semi-structured interviews with key project stakeholders of Taiwanese pilot projects. Thirty key CE-related practices are identified via case studies, along with their related 5R principles (Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle) and project phases. Suggestion on CE-related practices, their 5R principles, project items, and phases to implement in building projects in Taiwan is also proposed while discussion on differences between two countries’ pilot projects is presented.

Establishing underpinning concepts for integrating circular economy and offsite construction: a bibliometric review

“…Studies (Kibert, 2007;Geissdoerfer et al, 2017;Minunno et al, 2018;Rausch et al, 2021) espoused that CE implementation in construction should embrace reducing construction waste, reuse of replacement parts, use of by-products, design for adaptability, deconstruction/disassembly, recycling and tracking of components. Hence, Tserng et al (2021), argument that the 5R framework is more relevant to building construction. However, traditional construction practices pose a crucial challenge to implementing CE in the construction sector considering its underdeveloped closed-loop supply chain.…”

“…CE implementation in the building industry globally is still in its infant stage. Various frameworks such as ReSOLVE and the R-imperatives frameworks (Tserng et al, 2021) have emerged for implementing CE. The R-imperatives frameworks such as the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) and the 5R (rethink, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle) are commonly cited frameworks (Kirchherr et al, 2017) applicable to the construction industry.…”

Building Circularity Assessment in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Industry: A New Framework

“…Few studies focused on R strategies in the AEC industry. Ping et al [35] used a case study in Taiwan to show their 5R strategy of CE in a construction project. In this research, 5R of rethink-reduce-reuse-repair-recycle is adopted.…”

Circular Economy Development in the Construction Sector in Japan

“…Additionally, businesses, public administration, and governments can manage their degree of CE implementation by using a CE measurement scale for the building industry, covering dimensions such as resource management, the efficient management of materials, energy and water, environmental impact, and indicators of CE transition [34]. For example, the 5R framework (rethink, reduce, reuse, repair, and recycle) can be used to understand and promote CE concepts and practices in the construction industry [68].…”