Private sector role as a key stakeholder towards the circular economy in the construction industry in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The construction industry has become a major cause of environmental pollution as it consumes large number of natural resources and energy. Additionally, large amount of waste is added to the environment due to construction activities. Accordingly, protecting the environment from harmful construction activities is a major responsibility of the construction industry. Therefore, the concept of circular economy (CE) has gained worldwide attention as a solution to material waste in the construction industry, as it aims on more sustainable economy by designing products and processes where resources are efficiently and continuously cycled. However, the implementation of CE in the Sri Lankan construction industry is still at an immature stage. Therefore, this study aims to explore the role of the private sector and its potential contribution to the implementation of the CE in the built environment of Sri Lanka. This study has adopted the mixed method and findings emphasize even though that there are many benefits of implementing CE principles in the construction industry, CE principles are still not implemented satisfactorily in the built environment in the Sri Lankan construction industry, at least in the private sector. Also, the findings of the research emphasize that there are barriers under different types such as, technological, social and political for the private sector to implement CE in Sri Lanka's built environment.