Embracing Circular Economy Principles for Sustainable Capital Projects

Dear Colleagues,

Most developed and emerging nations are aware of the need to invest in sustainable projects, but many face enormous funding challenges and other delivery challenges such as complex interdependencies of physical, social, technical, environmental, economic, political, regulatory, and legislative challenges (Ochieng et al., 2020; Ochieng et al., 2017). As observed from the reviewed literature,  sustainable capital projects are at the forefront of sustainable development in the 21^st Century (Abadi et al., 2022; Charef and Weisheng, 2021) and these projects are critical for addressing some of the ecological risks investors face. The increased focus on circularity is intended to reinforce sustainability in production processes, which essentially means that waste reduction in these projects needs to be both understood and prioritised. Although sustainability integration is key to the delivery of sustainable capital projects, the economic viability of circular economy models has been a subject of discussion given the investments required to embrace circularity in such projects (Lovrenčić Butković et al., 2023; Todorovic and Obradovic, 2023). Furthermore, recent projections regarding the circular economy highlight a continuous decline globally (see Circularity Gap Report 2024, 2023 ). Collectively, these reports underscore the need for collaborative action among key stakeholders (governments, businesses, civil society organisations, and academia) to address systemic barriers and accelerate the transition to a circular economy.

As the complexity and sustainability requirements associated with most sustainable capital projects evolve to become more sophisticated, the demand for contractors to embrace circularity models in their policies, project delivery, and business and operating models, with a circular economy mindset from the outset, cannot be underestimated. Theoretically, the benefits of embracing circularity in sustainable capital projects need to be further explored. As established from the reviewed literature, circularity presents an opportunity for both the public and private sectors to address several challenges such as adaptation to climate change, capital effectiveness, decarbonisation, the lifecycle performance of projects, embracing technologies to minimise the impact on ecosystems and resources, introducing linear circularity business and operating models, and designing contacts that will support circularity and risk allocation between clients, contractors and designers (Abadi et al., 2022; Charef and Weisheng, 2021; Weigend et al., 2020;  Zuofa  et al., 2022). Given the above-itemised challenges, this Special Issue aims to establish how both the private and public sectors can address some of these challenges, adopt circularity value creation practices, and develop a more sustainable approach to the delivery of cross-sectoral sustainable projects. In theoretical terms, this Special Issue will address the following research questions:

• What are the key circularity metrics that will lead to the success of sustainable capital projects?

We invite a wide range of submissions that address circularity within the context of cross-sectoral sustainable capital projects including, but not limited to:

• Digital tools and circularity in the delivery of sustainable capital projects;
• Assessment of circularity metrics for sustainable capital projects;
• The circular economy and sustainable capital projects;
• The implications of financing sustainable capital projects in a circular economy;
• Circularity, capital efficiency, and sustainable capital projects;
• Linear circularity and operating models for the delivery of sustainable capital projects;
• Adaptation to climate change and sustainable capital projects;
• Decarbonisation and sustainable capital projects;
• The application of circular economy principles to protect the supply chains of sustainable capital projects;
• Sustainability and resilience for transformation in the delivery of sustainable capital projects;
• Value creation in sustainable capital projects through the circular economy;
• Circular economy regulation and legislation for sustainable capital projects;
• Analysis of legislative and policy-oriented circular economy studies.

References

1. Abadi, M., Moore, D.R and Sammuneh, M.A. (2022). A framework of indicators to measure project circularity in construction circular economy. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Management, Procurement and Law, Vol. 175 (2), pp. 1751-4304. https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/full/10.1680/jmapl.21.00020.
2. Charef, R. and Lu, Weisheng, L. (2021). Factor dynamics to facilitate circular economy adoption in construction. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 319, 15, pp. 128639. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652621028420.
3. Circular Economy Foundation (2024). The circularity gap report 2024. Available: https://www.circularity-gap.world/2024#download.
4. Circular Economy Foundation (2023). The circularity gap report 2023. Available: https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023.
5. Ochieng, E.G., Zuofa , T. and Badi, S. (2020). Routledge Handbook of Planning and Management of Global Strategic Infrastructure Projects. Oxon, UK: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group: ISBN 9780367477486. Available: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-Planning-and-Management-of-Global-Strategic-Infrastructure/Ochieng-Zuofa-Badi/p/book/9780367477486.
6. Ochieng E.G., Price, A.D.F and Moore, D. (2017). Major Infrastructure Projects: Planning for Delivery. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan’s Global Academic. https://he.palgrave.com/page/detail/major-infrastructure-projects-edward-ochieng/?sf1=barcode&st1=9781137515858.
7. Lovrenčić Butković, L., Mihić, M. and Sigmund, Z. (2023) ‘Assessment methods for evaluating circular economy projects in construction: a review of available tools’, International Journal of Construction Management, 23(5), pp. 877–886. doi: 10.1080/15623599.2021.1942770. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15623599.2021.1942770.
8. Todorović, M., Obradović, V. (2023). Circular Economy and Project Management: The Road Ahead. In: Obradović, V. (eds) Sustainable Business Change. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23543-6_12https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-23543-6_12.
9. Weigend Rodríguez, R., Pomponi, F., Webster, K.and D'Amico, B. (2020), "The future of the circular economy and the circular economy of the future", Built Environment Project and Asset Management, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 529-546. https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-07-2019-0063.
10.  Zuofa , T., Ochieng, E.G. and Ode-Ichakpa, I. (2022). An evaluation of determinants influencing and impeding the adoption of circular economy model. Building Research and Information. 51 (1), pp. 69-84. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09613218.2022.2142496?needAccess=true.

Prof. Dr. Edward Godfrey Ochieng
Dr. Diana Ominde
Dr. Tarila Zuofa
Dr. Muhammad Waris Ali Khan
Guest Editors

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• major capital projects
• circular economy
• sustainability
• climate change
• circularity