Circular Business Models in Construction: efficient and sustainable transports in complex supply chains

Research Project, 2027

In construction, supply chains are highly fragmented and project-based, making coordination difficult. Circular business models are being implemented to improve sustainability and increase resilience. These include collecting used products and materials, transporting them, storing them, inspecting their quality, and redistributing them. However, these processes are often costly and logistically complex, particularly when materials originate from multiple locations and projects. Consequently, the implementation of circular business models remains limited.

Understanding how to provide efficient and sustainable transport within circular business models is an important research challenge, particularly in industries where material flows, actor networks, and institutional arrangements are highly interconnected. The aim of this project is to investigate efficient and sustainable transport solutions for circular business models. This collaborative project combines two distinct research fields: supply chain management (Lisa Govik, TME) and circularity in the built environment (Maud Lanau, ACE).

The project will (1) ) contribute to knowledge on the interplay between transport decisions and circular business models, and (2) shed light on balancing efficiency and sustainability in transport within complex supply chains. The project is expected to result in two publications in top-tier journals. It will also provide a foundation for the research team to develop future research ideas and build a consortium with key external stakeholders, who will serve as partners in future applications for external funding. This collaborative initiative will open a new avenue in sustainable transport research, with a particular focus on circular business models in complex and temporary supply chains.