The high consumption of raw materials and the generation of construction and demolition waste (CDW) represent significant sustainability challenges. The circular economy (CE) offers a promising pathway but requires effective legislation. Although considerable attention has been devoted to the technical and economic aspects of CE, comparative analyses of national regulatory frameworks remain scarce. This study addresses this gap by conducting a comparative analysis of the regulatory environments of nine countries: Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Türkiye. With a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architecture based on a large language model (LLM), national and regional legal texts were analysed and fact-checked by experts. The results reveal substantial differences in regulatory maturity, enforcement mechanisms, and data platforms, resulting in the identification of three country clusters. The findings indicate that effective CDW management depends on legislative harmonisation, institutional capacity, data openness, and economic incentives. In addition, the study suggests that LLMs can serve as powerful instruments for comparative legal analysis in multilingual sustainability research.

Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) represents a key barrier and opportunity in advancing circularity within the built environment, as countries intensify efforts to reduce waste and recover resources more effectively. Its valorisation increasingly relies on the combined influence of technological capabilities, economic feasibility and social acceptance. This study brings together national data from eight countries: Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Türkiye to explore how economic, technological and social perceptions shape the potential of CDW in circular construction. The analysis examines the main economic opportunities and challenges in CDW recycling, including national market gaps and the availability of certified CDW-based products. It also highlights the growing role of digital tools, such as material-tracking systems, which support more reliable and transparent reuse pathways. From a social perspective, public perceptions and user preferences regarding recycled materials are analysed, along with stakeholder roles across the CDW value chain and the social implications of waste management. The study shows that an integrated approach that combines economic incentives, digital technologies, and stakeholder and community participation can effectively transform CDW into a valuable secondary raw material. It aims to guide policymakers, local governments, and industry professionals in creating diverse, practical initiatives from a comprehensive perspective, while also helping establish a strategic waste management framework.

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) represents one of Europe’s largest materials flows and a critical challenge for achieving circularity in the built environment. Drawing on comparative case studies from Latvia, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, Romania, and Turkey, this paper analyzes how diverse CDW management models: centralized recycling hubs, on-site demolition processing, closed-loop manufacturing systems, public-led circular construction initiatives, and digital or technology-enabled waste prevention strategies influence material recovery outcomes, environmental performance, and market dynamics. Using a structured cross-case analytical framework, the study compares technological, regulatory, and operational features across cases to understand how collection, sorting, and processing systems shape circularity potential. Results demonstrate that advanced automated sorting, integrated value-chain models, and digital tools can substantially increase landfill diversion rates, reduce CO₂ emissions, and preserve virgin resources. However, persistent barriers including insufficient market demand for secondary materials, lack of end-of-waste criteria, regulatory inconsistencies, and cultural resistance, limit broader uptake. Stakeholder insights further highlight the role of political incentives, economic competitiveness, and technological readiness in enabling or constraining CDW circularity. The findings contribute to a clearer understanding of how European CDW sorting and processing practices can support a high-value circular construction transition and identify priority areas for policy and industry action.

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) has been globally recognized as one of the most challenging waste streams, while simultaneously offering significant potential for valorization as secondary material resource. To effectively utilize these sources in their end-of-life stage, systematic characterization and robust management strategies are essential. In this context, this study comparatively evaluates the current state of CDW management approaches across the selected EU member states (Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Romania, and Slovenia), Switzerland, and Türkiye, with the objective of supporting the development of CDW material passport systems. The study includes characterization of the CDW streams, analysis of waste statistics and identification of good management practices within these countries, to develop realistic baselines for secondary material indicators at an international level. Furthermore, emergency action plans implemented during uncontrolled demolition scenarios, including natural disasters, are benchmarked to identify the operational gaps between standard waste management procedures and crisis response mechanisms. Consequently, the study highlights the urgent need to develop specialized management frameworks that prioritize each component of CDW, even when present in a mixed state, enabling their treatment as valuable secondary resources rather than a burden.