Recycling Waste Construction Material and Industry Involvement in University Investigations: Developing a Framework

Abstract

This study developed novel metrics and utilized content analysis in terms of keywords selected, scholarly publications, and social media posts to identify trends and industry involvement. A data set of publications was created based on collected materials from Scopus and social media and analyzed using statistical tests, rigorous content analysis, and network analysis. The data set was used to develop a framework for assessing the maturity of research topics and a classification system for labeling publications. The framework includes some indicators, such as total publications and a variety of applications, which are assessed based on a scale of 4. The classification system suggests four components: (1) product, (2) construction and demolition waste, (3) additives, and (4) experiments to be considered by authors. The framework and the categorization system may assist academics and practitioners in predicting topic trends and offer a set of indicators for conducting systematic reviews to identify gaps in the literature. Also, total publications as one of the framework indicators reveals that 46% of Canadian publications and 20.7% of US publications exhibited industry involvement compared with 15% of Australian publications and 15% of UK publications. The analysis shows that the top-occurring keyword in the data set is recycled asphalt pavement, which is linked to 22.2% of the data set, followed by recycled concrete and recycled aggregate concrete appearing in 12%. Aside from keywords related to materials, two of the most commonly occurring techniques in the data set of keywords are building information modeling and life cycle assessment, which still need further investigation along with GIS for waste minimization.