Circular economy potential of sustainable aggregates for the Malaysian construction industry
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1-2023
Abstract
To promote environmentally resilient development of cities and their infrastructure, government policies and business models are shifting towards sustainable practices especially through implementation of circular econ-omy (CE) principles. Within the construction industry, successful transition to CE should be supported by holistic and comprehensive evaluation of building materials and their sustainable alternatives. This study evaluates the regional environmental impacts of construction materials, specifically aggregates for concrete production in urban areas. The Malaysian construction industry was taken as an example for this purpose. Comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out on 3 concrete types each containing a different aggregate: natural aggregate (NA); recycled aggregate (RA); and palm oil clinker (POC). Route analysis determined the trans-portation impacts of materials from their respective origins to the city centres of 5 main Malaysian cities. Results showed that KL was the city with the highest potential for use of sustainable aggregates as it had the lowest transport distances for all materials. Based on these findings, this study proposes recommendations to encourage CE implementation in the local construction industry and their applicability to different cities in Malaysia.
Keywords
Circular economy, Sustainable building materials, Life cycle assessment, Recycled aggregates, Construction industry
Divisions
sch_civ
Funders
Universiti Malaya Research Grant (GPF003A-2019)
Publication Title
Sustainable Cities and Society
Volume
89
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher Location
RADARWEG 29, 1043 NX AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS