Enhancing circular economy adoption in the industrial steel construction industry: a blockchain-based information flow framework

Date

2024-4

Author

Demir, Berkan

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

25
views

17
downloads

Cite This

The circular economy (CE) is an economic model that focuses on reducing waste and maximizing the efficient use of resources. It aims to extend the life cycle of products and materials by promoting recycling, reuse, and other strategies. For many sectors, the transition to CE is critical to achieving long-term sustainability goals. However, literature reviews and semi-structured interviews revealed that the level of CE adoption and transition in the construction industry is quite limited, and barriers have been identified in this context. In this thesis, a conceptual blockchain-based information flow framework is developed to increase CE adoption in the construction industry and address the identified barriers. With the help of blockchain technology, the proposed framework can record, store, and distribute data that is part of the processes to the participants. It is aimed to have an effective flow of information between all participants throughout the life cycle of construction materials. Thus, CE awareness of the whole ecosystem can be increased through the involvement of stakeholders using this framework. Furthermore, increased circularity will increase sustainability by reducing the negative environmental vi impacts of construction processes. Moreover, the implementation of this framework is planned to utilize emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for data collection. An example application of the proposed framework is presented for industrial steel construction and tested through a case study. The case study was carried out in a large Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) company operating in the field of industrial steel construction, and evaluations were obtained from experts working in this company. Thus, based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that the presented framework can contribute to CE transition and CE adaptation.

Subject Keywords

Circular economy, Adaptation, Sustainability, Blockchain

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/109364

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis