Circular construction waste management and perceived urban environmental sustainability across Ghanaian Cities

Construction waste constitutes a major environmental challenge in rapidly urbanising sub-Saharan African cities, yet its governance through circular economy frameworks remains underexplored. This research used quantitative multi-city evaluations of the effect of circular construction waste management (CCWM) on urban environmental sustainability in Ghana. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used to gather the data from 502 built environment professionals in the cities of Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale and Cape Coast. The study adopted hierarchical multiple regression, MANOVA, K-means cluster analysis, and mediation and moderation analyses using the PROCESS macro to support the development of the study. The results show that the overall adoption level of CCWMs remains low (M = 2.87/5.00), due to the lowest implementation levels of design for deconstruction (M = 1.93) and on-site source segregation (M = 2.19). Three groups of adopters emerged: non-adopters (21.3%), moderate adopters (54.5%) and advanced circular firms (24.2%). The hierarchical regression results indicated that CCWM practices (β = 0.412, p < .001) were the strongest predictor, followed by regulatory enforcement (β = 0.289, p < .001) and technological capability (β = 0.175, p = .002) for sustainability outcomes. The adoption–sustainability relationship was partially mediated by regulatory enforcement, explaining 36% of the overall effect, and significant inter-city differences were observed, with Accra performing better than Tamale. Adoption–sustainability relationship was also higher in large firms than in small firms. The results confirm that awareness is not enough to bring about the adoption of a circular economy; regulation and technological tools play an important role in achieving the sustainability outcomes in the construction sector in Ghana.