How construction and demolition waste management has addressed sustainable development goals: Exploring academic and industrial trends

Ke Zhang; Ye Qing; Qasim Umer; Fahad Asmi

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118823

How construction and demolition waste management has addressed sustainable development goals: Exploring academic and industrial trends

J Environ Manage. 2023 Nov 1:345:118823. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118823. Epub 2023 Sep 4.

Authors

Ke Zhang¹, Ye Qing², Qasim Umer³, Fahad Asmi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Fuyang Normal University, FuYang, China. Electronic address: zhangke365@fynu.edu.cn.
² Fuyang Normal University, FuYang, China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: qingye@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
³ COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Vehari, Pakistan; Department of Computer Science, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: qasimumer@cuivehari.edu.pk.
⁴ University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China; Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: fasmie@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 37673005
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118823

Abstract

With the rapid growth of the construction industry and urbanization, the construction and demolition waste (CDW) has constituted the most major solid waste flow in the world. The unsustainable management of CDW causes serious societal and environmental issues, as well as leads to resource waste, which directly and indirectly impact on United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Due to the awareness of the destructive effect by CDW, the academic and industry have devoted to offer a sustainable pathway for CDWM, which characterizes minimizing carbon footprints as well as proposing circular approaches. In this context, CDW can be reused, recycled and recovery as a value resource. Therefore, this study proposed a unique research method that combines qualitative and quantitative approaches in the form of bigdata analysis and machine learning, which aims to explore the CDWM related knowledge and innovation from academic and industrial perspective respectively. Especially, what is different trends in CDWM-related of academia and industry between pre- and post-SDGs declaration era(s)? What aspects of SDGs have been addressed by academia and industry in pre- and post-SDGs declaration era(s)? The study witnessed that a 350% increase in the growth of academic literature and a 278% increase in the growth in industrial patents compared to pre-SDGs declaration period. In the academia, the emerging topics of research has shifted to management, circular economy, life cycle assessment, and ETC. Similarly, patent citation illustrated that the attention of stakeholders on CDWM in the construction industry has shifted from a linear point to a circular view. Moreover, the result showed that SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) have noted as most seriously addressed concerns by academia and industry.

Keywords: Construction and demolition waste; Machine learning; Patents; Research publication; Sustainable development goals; Systematic review.

MeSH terms

Carbon Footprint
Cities
Construction Industry*
Sustainable Development
Waste Management*