Background- Construction and demolition (C&D) accounts for more than 40% of the total global waste stream, significantly impacting the environment, economy, and society. To minimise the detrimental impact, various construction and demolition waste management (C&DWM) frameworks have been introduced for advancing sustainability and circular economy objectives within the built environment. However, existing frameworks for C&DWM remain fragmented and often ineffective at achieving long-term waste reduction, material recovery, and resource-efficiency goals. Thus, this paper examines the key gaps in current C&DWM frameworks that hinder the sustainable management of C&D waste.
Methodology- This study employed a systematic scoping review of the published literature to identify and map the breadth of evidence on C&DWM frameworks. This provides an overview of a potentially vast and diverse body of literature on C&DWM frameworks collected from Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus databases from 2016 to 2025. A total of 490 documents from WOS and 390 documents from Scopus were initially recorded. Then, duplicate, non-English and grey literature were excluded, and finally, 106 documents were thoroughly reviewed and analysed using thematic analysis.
Key Findings- The review findings identified and categorised various C&DWM frameworks, into six major themes: (a) A framework for C&DWM based on waste management hierarchy (WMH) and policy, (b) Frameworks focusing on environmental, economic and social performance, (c) Frameworks related to post-disaster C&DWM, (d) Frameworks related to quantification and estimation of C&D waste generations, (e) Frameworks related to tools for sustainable C&DWM, (f) Frameworks based on multi-criteria decision making methods. The results provide a conceptual framework for enhancing sustainable C&DWM practices.
Potential Impact- This review provides a knowledge base for academics and researchers to understand the limitations and future research prospects of sustainable C&DWM. Additionally, it assists C&DWM practitioners and decision-makers by utilising a structured conceptual framework for sustainable C&DWM, thereby enhancing implementation.