Table 1. Dominant CE practices in the... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1.

Dominant CE practices in the construction industry in Africa available in literature

Country	CE practices	References	Application and significance
Egypt	Green economy strategy, recycling, resource efficiency, use of local sandstone, use of secondary materials	Mahmoud et al. (2020)	The recycling of materials will limit the amount of raw material extraction, and the use of locally available materials reduces the carbon footprint of the transportation of materials. Use of local resources requires innovation and disruptive adaptation (Lekan et al., 2021)
Ghana	Green public procurement, recovery of materials at demolition stage, sustainable sourced materials, local inspired architecture, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green building and efficient lighting	Hemkhaus et al. (2020)	The adoption of green procurement enables contractors to detail how they will deal with the environment in their practices. Such practices allow clients to reduce their negative environmental impact
Kenya	Banning of single-use plastics, sustainable waste management, reduction of material importation, recycling of materials, use of interlocking stabilised soil blocks (ISSB) made from crushed glass, shredded plastic waste and agro-based residues	Karcher et al. (2020)	The banning of materials that are not bio-degradable allows the construction industry to reduce its impact on the environment (Schmidt et al. 2020; Caschera et al. 2020; Ghosh, 2020). While the use of ISSB enables the sector to reuse demolished or waste materials to produce future construction materials (Edike et al., 2020)
Morocco	End-of-life waste management, low cost and natural building materials, value addition of local eco-friendly materials	Diaco et al. (2020)	End-of-life thinking allows designers to suggest materials with the end in mind. The approach addresses the question: What will become of the material at the end of the building life?
Nigeria	Informal waste management, waste minimisation	Rajput et al. (2020)	The construction industry produces a vast amount of waste which requires management. Therefore, the adoption of waste management allows the sector to dispose of waste in a responsible manner (Schmidt et al., 2020)
Rwanda	Use of sustainable materials and recycled materials, energy efficiency, environmental performance (green building rating systems), renewable energy, urban forests (green spaces)	Whyte et al. (2020)	The use of recycled materials has not been widely adopted in most countries due to various reasons, such as “negative attitude towards waste” and lack of standardisation (Potting et al., 2016). However, Rwanda has shown that the use of these materials reduces a strain on virgin natural resources. Furthermore, reclaiming green spaces allows the cities to restore the ecosystem (Pearlmutter et al., 2020)
Senegal	Building using compressed earth bricks (CEB), eco-construction, revision of building codes, construction waste management, recycling	Bonnaire et al. (2020)	Earth bricks are an innovative way of combatting the carbon footprint associated with cement bricks (Meek et al., 2021; Migliore et al., 2018). Furthermore, Edike et al. (2020) note that eco-friendly brick production has increased in Africa The revision of building codes, on the other hand, allows the sector to move with the times and address the sustainability and climate change challenges (Zami, 2020)
South Africa	Regulation of indoor environment (Tebogo Home), waste management, recycling of plastics, green building certification	Potgieter et al. (2020)	The recognition of the impact that the construction sector has on the environment is a significant step towards addressing circularity issues. It allows the industry to think in a holistic manner whenever constructing a building (Hossain and Ng, 2019). Therefore, the certification of buildings in view of their impact on the environment has great benefits
Zambia	Using copper tailings as partial replacement of sand in concrete production	Muleya et al. (2021)	The study found out that 30% of sand replacement with copper tailings was the maximum replacement amount to produce optimum compressive strength values from both mixes. With the abundance of copper tailings in Zambia, their use in concrete could increase circularity within the construction industry

Country	CE practices	References	Application and significance
Egypt	Green economy strategy, recycling, resource efficiency, use of local sandstone, use of secondary materials	Mahmoud et al. (2020)	The recycling of materials will limit the amount of raw material extraction, and the use of locally available materials reduces the carbon footprint of the transportation of materials. Use of local resources requires innovation and disruptive adaptation (Lekan et al., 2021)
Ghana	Green public procurement, recovery of materials at demolition stage, sustainable sourced materials, local inspired architecture, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green building and efficient lighting	Hemkhaus et al. (2020)	The adoption of green procurement enables contractors to detail how they will deal with the environment in their practices. Such practices allow clients to reduce their negative environmental impact
Kenya	Banning of single-use plastics, sustainable waste management, reduction of material importation, recycling of materials, use of interlocking stabilised soil blocks (ISSB) made from crushed glass, shredded plastic waste and agro-based residues	Karcher et al. (2020)	The banning of materials that are not bio-degradable allows the construction industry to reduce its impact on the environment (Schmidt et al. 2020; Caschera et al. 2020; Ghosh, 2020). While the use of ISSB enables the sector to reuse demolished or waste materials to produce future construction materials (Edike et al., 2020)
Morocco	End-of-life waste management, low cost and natural building materials, value addition of local eco-friendly materials	Diaco et al. (2020)	End-of-life thinking allows designers to suggest materials with the end in mind. The approach addresses the question: What will become of the material at the end of the building life?
Nigeria	Informal waste management, waste minimisation	Rajput et al. (2020)	The construction industry produces a vast amount of waste which requires management. Therefore, the adoption of waste management allows the sector to dispose of waste in a responsible manner (Schmidt et al., 2020)
Rwanda	Use of sustainable materials and recycled materials, energy efficiency, environmental performance (green building rating systems), renewable energy, urban forests (green spaces)	Whyte et al. (2020)	The use of recycled materials has not been widely adopted in most countries due to various reasons, such as “negative attitude towards waste” and lack of standardisation (Potting et al., 2016). However, Rwanda has shown that the use of these materials reduces a strain on virgin natural resources. Furthermore, reclaiming green spaces allows the cities to restore the ecosystem (Pearlmutter et al., 2020)
Senegal	Building using compressed earth bricks (CEB), eco-construction, revision of building codes, construction waste management, recycling	Bonnaire et al. (2020)	Earth bricks are an innovative way of combatting the carbon footprint associated with cement bricks (Meek et al., 2021; Migliore et al., 2018). Furthermore, Edike et al. (2020) note that eco-friendly brick production has increased in AfricaThe revision of building codes, on the other hand, allows the sector to move with the times and address the sustainability and climate change challenges (Zami, 2020)
South Africa	Regulation of indoor environment (Tebogo Home), waste management, recycling of plastics, green building certification	Potgieter et al. (2020)	The recognition of the impact that the construction sector has on the environment is a significant step towards addressing circularity issues. It allows the industry to think in a holistic manner whenever constructing a building (Hossain and Ng, 2019). Therefore, the certification of buildings in view of their impact on the environment has great benefits
Zambia	Using copper tailings as partial replacement of sand in concrete production	Muleya et al. (2021)	The study found out that 30% of sand replacement with copper tailings was the maximum replacement amount to produce optimum compressive strength values from both mixes. With the abundance of copper tailings in Zambia, their use in concrete could increase circularity within the construction industry

Source:

Adapted from Circular economy in Africa-EU cooperation country reports (2020) and Muleya et al. (2021)