Material passports for circular built environments: a systematic review of information requirements, digital tools and implementation barriers

Purpose Material passports are increasingly presented as instruments for circular construction, yet the specific information requirements, digital infrastructures and implementation barriers that shape their use across building lifecycle stages remain fragmented. This study aims to synthesise the material passport literature and develop an information-centred framework for circular built environments. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review was conducted using a structured search, screening and eligibility protocol. The final corpus consists of 51 journal-based studies published between 2018 and 2026. Descriptive analysis, thematic co-word analysis and thematic coding were used to classify information requirements, digital tools, lifecycle stages, circularity functions and implementation barriers. Automated pre-screening was used only to reduce the initial metadata pool; the final corpus was determined through eligibility screening and structured thematic coding. Findings Material passports connect material data with BIM-enabled systems, databases, digital platforms, digital twins, blockchain-based traceability, lifecycle assessment and decision-support tools across the building lifecycle. The dominant implementation barriers concern interoperability, standardisation, platform integration, economic feasibility, stakeholder coordination and regulatory alignment. Originality/value The study contributes by reframing material passports as an information ecosystem for circular built environments. It provides a lifecycle-based mapping of information requirements, digital tools, circularity functions and barriers, and proposes a conceptual framework to support future passport-enabled circular construction research and practice. Unlike studies that examine material passports primarily as building information modelling extensions, circular economy tools or digital product passport templates, this review explains how data requirements, digital processing and implementation conditions interact across lifecycle stages.