Examining Interconnected Decision-Making Factors for Circular Economy Integration in Construction

Circular economy (CE)—a systemic approach focused on reducing waste and promoting sustainable resource use—has emerged as a promising solution to address the environmental impacts of construction activities. However, construction still exhibits a substantial circularity gap, underscoring the need to better understand the factors influencing CE decision-making and their interconnections. To achieve this, the authors identified 40 decision-making factors impacting the adoption of CE in the industry based on an extensive literature review. Second, clustering analysis was employed to aggregate the factors based on their interconnectivities. Third, social network analysis is used to examine the key interconnectivities and combinations within the clustered factors. The results indicate that the factors can be grouped into three clusters, each representing distinct yet interconnected decision-making aspects. The findings offer practitioners valuable insights into the interactions and dependencies among various CE factors, enhancing understanding of CE drivers in construction and driving greater circularity.