Life cycle stage practices and strategies for circular economy: assessment in construction and demolition industry of an emerging economy

The strategic implementation of circular economy (CE) practices in the construction and demolition (C&D) industry is critical for achieving environmental sustainability goals. Understanding CE practices based on reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, remanufacture, and redesign (6R) principles from the perspective of the whole life cycle can promote the implementation of CE practices in the C&D industry. However, studies that shed light on this subject especially in emerging economies are generally lacking. This study contributes to filling this gap by using a three-phase methodology consisting of a literature review and a hybrid best–worst method and grey relational analysis to give insights into practices and strategies to prioritize CE practice implementation. Specifically, the paper focuses on identifying CE practices based on 6R principles, the significance of the identified CE practices, and understanding how to prioritize the implementation of the significant CE practices. The study’s findings established that implementing CE practices based on reduce and recover principles at the design stage contributes significantly to environmental sustainability. Additionally, the study highlights the relevance of both bottom-up and top-down approaches in the implementation of CE practices. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-21470-w.