Sustainable reuse of building materials—when idea meets reality

The construction sector generates vast quantities of construction and demolition waste. This review critically examines the feasibility of achieving a zero-waste construction site (ZWCS) through reuse-oriented strategies. It introduces a synthetic framework that aligns design-stage responsibility, systemic barriers, and policy conditions within a consistent decision structure governing reuse. Unlike previous studies focused on recycling technologies or isolated case studies, this manuscript reframes the feasibility of reuse as a function of upstream decisions, modularity, disassembly planning, and lifecycle documentation, rather than downstream waste handling, thereby shifting the focus from material processing to system-level decision-making. The findings reveal that the feasibility of reuse depends less on material properties than on design logic, exposing a systemic contradiction between the ZWCS ambition and current construction practices. What happens when the ZWCS ideal meets the realities of the construction system? This review demonstrates that the challenge is not a lack of technical solutions, but a systemic paradox rooted in how buildings are conceived, assembled, and dismantled. Therefore, achieving a ZWCS requires more than innovation; it demands a shift in mentality, a redefinition of design logic, and education as a primary mechanism for embedding reuse-oriented principles among both supply- and demand-side actors.