Improving resource efficiency in the value chain of construction plastics A pathway of service designs enabling increased circularity through mechanical recycling in a Swedish context
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Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Program
Management and economics of innovation (MPMEI), MSc
Publicerad
2023
Författare
Linder, Teodor
Hellqvist, Joar
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
The Swedish construction industry generates more than 150 000 tonnes of plastic
waste annually, and only 0.8-2.5 percent of this waste is recycled. A wide variety of
plastic types complicates sorting and processing procedures, the low density of
plastic materials leads to costly waste transportation, and the project-based nature
of the industry implies temporary geographically dispersed plastic waste flows.
While these barriers are commonly mentioned in previous research, there are many
more reasons behind the low resource efficiency of construction plastic waste. This
study was conducted together with the Swedish construction company NCC, to
identify circular service opportunities enabling improved resource efficiency of
construction plastic waste through mechanical recycling. First, by interviewing
people with experience from the construction plastic value chain, six types of
services enabling plastic recycling could be found and 113 barriers hindering the
provision of these services could be presented in six categories. Further, ideas on
how actors can collaborate better to increase the plastic recycling rate were
identified through a concept mapping process and could be categorized into eight
clusters, representing collaborative actions. Leveraging perspectives of
collaboration complexity and service system maturity, eight service system designs
were proposed that could enable collaborative actions in practice. A service
ecosystem perspective was employed to highlight interdependencies between
collaborative actions and suggest a pathway of service designs. Finally, through
interviews with digital construction specialists, a knowledge gap was found with
respect to how digital solutions could be used to improve plastic waste management.
To increase the recycling rate of construction plastic waste, it is
suggested that actors consider the proposed service systems to explore solutions
with external actors.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Construction , Plastic , Service Ecosystems , Circular Economy Business Models , Resource Efficiency Recycling , Service Triads , Reverse Supply Chain , Collaborative Actions , Barriers