Understanding the challenges of construction demolition waste management towards circular construction: Kuwait Stakeholder’s perspective

Abstract

Copyright © The Authors 2023. The built environment sector is under increasing pressure to reduce costs while improving environmental quality. This paper examines Kuwait’s current construction and demolition waste (CDW) management policy, highlights the obstacles faced by recycling processes and suggests solutions to enhance waste management practices. Kuwait has only one landfill dedicated exclusively to CDW, operating since 2009. Even though Kuwait has facilities dedicated to handling and recycling CDW, recycling faces several obstacles that hinder its efficacy. This study aims to identify the impediments to efficient management practices through an extensive review of the literature followed by a questionnaire that was sent to 42 relevant stakeholders and interviews conducted with five stakeholders from the 1) Municipality of Kuwait, 2) the Ministry of Public Works, 3) the Environmental Public Authority, 4) the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, and 5) the Environment Preservation Industrial Company. This study concluded that present waste management procedures are inappropriate for achieving the circular construction concept and the 4 R framework (reduce, reuse, recycle and recover). Furthermore, it was found that raising the awareness of construction stakeholders and the public about waste management and recycling benefits is essential. This can be successfully implemented by emphasising recyclable products' economic and financial benefits. There is also a need to enforce Kuwait’s existing environmental legislation and regulations to achieve a better CDW control framework. The outcomes of this study will assist decision-makers in establishing strategies to address the barriers to circular waste management practices in Kuwait and beyond.