ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL OF ADOPTING CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND ITS EFFECT ON THE SUSTAINABLE PERFORMANCE IN THE PALESTINIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2024-06-09
Authors
Zean Al-dean, Shaimaa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
An-Najah National University
Abstract
In recent years, the global community has acknowledged the critical importance of sustainable development approaches in addressing acute environmental concerns while also ensuring long-term social and economic success. In this environment, the circular economy (CE) has emerged as a viable paradigm for encouraging sustainability in a variety of industries, including construction. In Palestine, the construction industry is crucial to economic growth.
This thesis aims to assess the potential of adopting the principles of CE in the Palestinian construction industry and to investigate its effects on sustainable development. It also aims at studying how the application of CE in the Palestinian construction industry can help in using resources, and exploring the potential social and environmental impacts of applying the principles of CE in Palestinian construction industry.
To this end, a research model was developed where data was collected using questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Data were collected from a random sample of 80 participants including engineers, contractors and suppliers. The respondents scored CE in a medium level 2.480 . Aspects observed in current practice reveal only occasional fulfilment of goals set regarding recycled content, although some obstacles are related to the limited availability of recycled materials, the lack of official rules concerning their use, insufficient financial incentives, and the lack of appropriate training. But the opportunity to extend CE is the possibility to decrease its negative impact, governmental programs, and financial stimuli, all of which stimulate activity. The partial least squares- structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using Smart PLS software was used to analyze the data collected by the questionnaire and test the model hypotheses. The results obtained showed that the level of implementation of adopting principles of CE is of medium level.
Keywords : Circular economy (CE), Construction industry (CI) , Sustainable development (SD) , Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).