Barriers and Opportunities in the Transition to a Circular Construction Sector in Portugal

Abstract

AbstractTransitioning from a linear to a circular economy (CE) is one of the main goals set by the European Union to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Portugal is currently revising the national CE action plan, and the construction sector has been identified as one of the key sectors. Barriers and opportunities in the transition to a CE were previously mapped in literature and national or sectorial CE action plans but still need to be identified for the Portuguese construction sector specificities. Over one-thousand stakeholders were interviewed during eleven working sessions to characterize the national construction sector, identifying and clustering barriers and opportunities in this transition. Barriers from the Political and regulatory pillar were critical, and an urgent need to adapt (and simplify) the regulatory framework to promote a circular construction sector was identified. In the Technology pillar, stakeholders acknowledged the need to support people and companies to make the transition. In the market pillar the lack of pilot projects applying CE principles and of a CDW market. Finally, in the Cultural pillar, the need to reskill workers and empower society with CE principles was highlighted. The actions to trigger the transition are a CE-prone framework, digitalization of construction, simplification of procedures, support research, and empowering the whole value chain. All these actions are in line with the just transition mechanism to ensure that “no one is left behind” and point the path towards a carbon–neutral construction sector.