Circular economy in the Australian AEC industry: investigation of barriers and enablers

The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry has a reputation for low resource efficiency worldwide. Policymakers are exploring various avenues to address the issue, with one option being a shift toward a circular economy (CE). However, first one must identify how the relevant stakeholders perceive the concept. Hence, this study aimed to elicit stakeholders’ perceptions about CE and identify the main barriers and enablers affecting its adoption in the Australian context. A total of 132 respondents representing various stakeholder groups were surveyed. The findings revealed that only participants’ awareness of CE has a meaningful link with adoption; and this has a statistically significant association with major CE adoption indicators (i.e. adoption, willingness to apply, level of agreement on considering CE as business ethics and that CE is beneficial). The top three barriers were a: ‘lack of incentives’; ‘lack of specific regulations’; and a ‘lack of knowledge’. The three top enablers were reported to be ‘R&D of enabling technologies’, ‘educate project stakeholders’ and ‘provide evidence for the CE added value’. This paper could inform policy development activities in the Australian context and provides the foundation for a roadmap to a CE within the national AEC industry.