TY - CONF
T1 - A Conceptual Model for Assessing Circularity Potential of Building Materials at the Product Manufacturing Stage
T2 - XVI International Conference on Durability of Building Materials and Components
AU - Pathberiyage, Nadee Tharaka Dharmasiri
AU - Delzendeh, Elham
AU - Cheung, Franco
AU - Mateo-Garcia, Monica
PY - 2023/1/15
Y1 - 2023/1/15
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Circular Economy
KW - Building Materials
KW - Resource Consumption and Waste
KW - Circularity Metrics
KW - Product Manufacturing Stage
UR - https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/15131/
M3 - Paper
ER -