Circular Economy in Construction : Investigating the Gap between Sustainable Ambitions and Practical Implementation

Sammanfattning

The Construction sector accounts for a significant portion of society's waste and greenhouse gas emissions, leading to increased pressure to transition toward a circular economy. Despite clear sustainability ambitions, there is a notable implementation gap where strategic goals are rarely translated into practical action within projects. This discrepancy is often explained through organizational decoupling, where project-based organizations prioritize short-term goals over long-term circularity. This study analyzes how the organizational structure of project-based construction firms shapes the implementation of circular resource flows. By examining the inherent tension between permanent corporate governance and temporary project logistics, the study identifies the critical barriers hindering the integration of circular solutions. A qualitative approach with an abductive research strategy was adopted. Data collection involved nine-semi structured interviews with key industry stakeholders alongside a detailed document analysis of a specific case, “Project X”. Through thematic analysis, empirical findings were contrasted against formal contracts and strategic tools such as CCBuild. Results indicate that primary barriers include legal uncertainty regarding product liability, rigid technical certification requirements and traditional procurement models like ABT 06. Project X serves as a clear illustration of decoupling, where an inventory identified to potentially save up to 111 tons of CO₂e and 3.9 million SEK, is bypassed due to fixed-price agreements and risk minimization within the iron triangle of time, cost and quality. Evidence suggests that the implementation gap is not primarily driven by a lack of sustainability ambitions or technical capability, but rather by a structural incompatibility between circular resource flows and the dominant governance logic of project-based construction. The findings show how temporary project priorities related to delivery, risk mitigation and contractual stability override long-term sustainability objectives, reinforcing organizational decoupling. Furthermore, circular knowledge and experience often remain confined within temporary project structures, limiting organizational learning and the institutionalization of circular practices. The study contributes to research on project-based organizations by explaining how institutionalized governance mechanisms and project management logics function as a systematic stabilizers of linear construction practices.