Table 2 Summary of the challenges to... | Emerald Publishing

Table 2

Summary of the challenges to construction waste management

Theme category	Challenges	Interviews	Experts	SLR	Reference(s)
Governance and compliance	Lack of standardised practices and strategic planning	✓	E1, E2	✓	Duan et al. (2019), Esa et al. (2017), Hoang et al. (2020), Lu et al. (2011), Blaisi (2019), Clark et al. (2006), Ossa et al. (2016)
	Collaboration and proactive engagement gaps among stakeholders	✓	E5, E4	✓	Blaisi (2019), Clark et al. (2006), Ossa et al. (2016)
	Waste incentives and taxes	✓	E8, E6	✓	Bao and Lu (2021)
	Lack of accountability and awareness among waste generators	✓	E1, E2, E5, E6	✓	Esa et al. (2017), Yu et al. (2013)
	Inadequate regulatory action and enforcement measures	✓	E6, E9	✓	Duan et al. (2019), Esa et al. (2017), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
Infrastructure and resources capacity	Limited infrastructure for waste sorting and processing	✓	E2, E4, E5	✓	Alshdiefat et al. (2025), Brown and Milke (2016), Yu et al. (2013), Caldera et al. (2020)
	Effective logistics planning and active community participation	✓	E1, E4, E8, E2, E5	✓	Brown and Milke (2016), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
	Human resource constraints	✓	E3, E6, E7	✓	Willar et al. (2021), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
	Technology gaps	✓	E1, E3, E7, E8, E9	✓	Ferronato et al. (2023), Likita et al. (2022), Yu et al. (2021), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
Financial constraints	Costs of waste management and tight budgets	✓	E1, E2, E5	✓	Ma et al. (2020), Hart et al. (2019), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
Waste management planning	Waste minimisation as a low-priority goal in the project plan	✓	E10, E6, E4, E7, E8	✓	Frempong-Jnr et al. (2023), Mbadugha et al. (2021)
Waste management planning	The need for a comprehensive waste categorisation and estimation management system	✓	E8	✓	Domingo and Batty (2021), Hernandez et al. (2023), Lam et al. (2019), Islam et al. (2019)
Culture and education	Resistance to change and training requirements	✓	E7, E9, E5, E10	✓	Kabirifar et al. (2021), Blaisi (2019), Rašković et al. (2020), Yu et al. (2021), Li et al. (2022)
Market availability and demand	Underdeveloped market for recycled or reused materials	✓	E7	✓	Caldera et al. (2020), Park and Tucker (2017)
Market availability and demand	Lack of investment in circular design	✓	E9	✓	Rakhshan et al. (2020), Hart et al. (2019)

Theme category	Challenges	Interviews	Experts	SLR	Reference(s)
Governance and compliance	Lack of standardised practices and strategic planning	✓	E1, E2	✓	Duan et al. (2019), Esa et al. (2017), Hoang et al. (2020), Lu et al. (2011), Blaisi (2019), Clark et al. (2006), Ossa et al. (2016)
	Collaboration and proactive engagement gaps among stakeholders	✓	E5, E4	✓	Blaisi (2019), Clark et al. (2006), Ossa et al. (2016)
	Waste incentives and taxes	✓	E8, E6	✓	Bao and Lu (2021)
	Lack of accountability and awareness among waste generators	✓	E1, E2, E5, E6	✓	Esa et al. (2017), Yu et al. (2013)
	Inadequate regulatory action and enforcement measures	✓	E6, E9	✓	Duan et al. (2019), Esa et al. (2017), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
Infrastructure and resources capacity	Limited infrastructure for waste sorting and processing	✓	E2, E4, E5	✓	Alshdiefat et al. (2025), Brown and Milke (2016), Yu et al. (2013), Caldera et al. (2020)
	Effective logistics planning and active community participation	✓	E1, E4, E8, E2, E5	✓	Brown and Milke (2016), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
	Human resource constraints	✓	E3, E6, E7	✓	Willar et al. (2021), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
	Technology gaps	✓	E1, E3, E7, E8, E9	✓	Ferronato et al. (2023), Likita et al. (2022), Yu et al. (2021), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
Financial constraints	Costs of waste management and tight budgets	✓	E1, E2, E5	✓	Ma et al. (2020), Hart et al. (2019), Al-Otaibi et al. (2022)
Waste management planning	Waste minimisation as a low-priority goal in the project plan	✓	E10, E6, E4, E7, E8	✓	Frempong-Jnr et al. (2023), Mbadugha et al. (2021)
Waste management planning	The need for a comprehensive waste categorisation and estimation management system	✓	E8	✓	Domingo and Batty (2021), Hernandez et al. (2023), Lam et al. (2019), Islam et al. (2019)
Culture and education	Resistance to change and training requirements	✓	E7, E9, E5, E10	✓	Kabirifar et al. (2021), Blaisi (2019), Rašković et al. (2020), Yu et al. (2021), Li et al. (2022)
Market availability and demand	Underdeveloped market for recycled or reused materials	✓	E7	✓	Caldera et al. (2020), Park and Tucker (2017)
Market availability and demand	Lack of investment in circular design	✓	E9	✓	Rakhshan et al. (2020), Hart et al. (2019)

Source(s): Authors’ own work