An Evaluation of the Barriers Hindering Smart Waste Management Performance in the South African Construction Industry

The construction industry generates substantial amounts of waste, and ineffective waste management (WM) continues to pose serious challenges, particularly in developing countries. Despite the growing interest in smart waste management (SWM) within the construction sector, its effective implementation remains limited, especially in developing countries. This study systematically examines the main barriers to SWM performance in South Africa’s construction sector. A total of 25 potential barriers were identified and assessed using a structured questionnaire, yielding 195 valid responses from construction professionals selected via simple random sampling. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) implemented via the AMOS software. The results revealed that all five categories of barriers significantly influence SWM performance at the 95% confidence level (p ≤ .05). Therefore, regulatory and policy barriers exert the strongest effect (β = 0.234), followed by technological barriers (β = 0.216), economic and financial barriers (β = 0.178), organizational barriers (β = 0.125), and social and behavioral barriers (β = 0.117). The study concludes that overcoming regulatory and policy constraints is critical to improving SWM performance, alongside investments in technology, financial support mechanisms, and organizational capacity. The study also offers practical recommendations for professionals and policymakers to address the main challenges identified.