The United Nations estimates that the global populace reached a staggering 8 billion individuals by 2022, and it’s predicted to surpass 9 billion individuals within the next 15 years. It’s a big challenge for us and for the environment to meet all the needs of such a large population. The dominant linear economic paradigm has negative environmental consequences, primarily resulting from the growing demand for natural resources and the diminishing value of manufactured goods and the raw materials they comprise. The absence of a solid plan for natural resource management could lead to the exhaustion of readily available raw materials. Hence, it is imperative to curb the excessive
utilization of our planet’s resources, particularly in the context of the construction industry, whose
waste constitutes one of the largest waste streams in the European Union. The solution is urgently implementing an alternative model, such as the circular economy. The construction industry has a chance to take innovative steps to reduce the amount of raw materials used and waste generated
by returning them to economic processes. Implementing the principles of the circular economy in construction requires the involvement of all key stakeholders, from designers, building material manufacturers, and construction companies to investors, construction developers, and users. To
achieve a successful outcome, construction project teams should collaborate to implement specific strategies that minimize the consumption of increasingly scarce raw materials while utilizing existing materials already in use.