Global Patterns in Construction and Demolition Waste (C&DW) Research: A Bibliometric Analysis Using VOSviewer

Abstract

C&DW is contributing to exceeding all planetary boundaries and presents a range of other issues. In order to better understand the existing research on C&DW, a global bibliographic analysis was undertaken through seven groups of keyword searches of Scopus and the results visualised using VOSviewer. The study identifies phases in discussion of C&DW in terms of volume and themes and examines how search terms influence what is found. The results show that C&DW receives only a modest research attention compared to other areas of waste, and this is despite an exponential increase in C&DW research since 2016. The analyses also show that concrete is the most researched material in terms of C&DW, and that reuse, recycling, and circular economy are so far attracting only proportionally modest research attention. This signals a need for further acceleration of the C&DW research, and specifically for more research on reuse, recycling, and circular economy for materials other than concrete. One important finding are differences observed when using different search terms related to C&DW, which suggests that single search studies might provide limited insights.