Towards circular economy: the role of informal waste workers in construction and demolition waste management in Nigeria

Onyekwere, Chinedu Esther, Stevenson, Vicki ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8531-2091 and Whitman, Christopher ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7779-6930 2026. Towards circular economy: the role of informal waste workers in construction and demolition waste management in Nigeria. Presented at: International Conference of Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS) 2022, Leeds, UK, 31 August - 2 September 2022. Published in: Booth, Colin, Gorse, Christopher, Jones, Beth, Parkinson, Leonie, Newport, Darryl, Scott, Lloyd, Dastbaz, Mohammad and Ajayi, Saheed eds. Sustainability Across the Built and Natural Environments: Selected Papers from the International Conference of Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS) 2022. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 417-424. 10.1007/978-3-031-94316-4_29

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Abstract

The circular economy is a concept that integrates material reduction, reuse, and recycling. The reuse of building components has potential that as yet has not been fully explored. To date, the Nigerian construction industry has not made documented attempts to apply circular economy. In Nigeria, huge amount of construction and demolition waste are produced and abandoned on roadsides, waterways, etc. The formal construction and demolition waste (CDW) system has failed in dealing with these wastes. Most of the attempts that have been made have been by the informal waste workers but unfortunately these attempts over the years, have gone unnoticed by the policymakers. Though not acknowledged by policymakers, the ubiquitous informal economy fortuitously remains active in construction and demolition waste collection, reuse, and recycling. Studies of this nature have previously not been undertaken in the context of Nigerian cultural and economic environment. Recognizing the contributions of the informal waste workers in construction waste reuse will promote sustainable construction in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to explore the role of informal waste workers in reuse and recycling of CDW in Nigeria and challenges the lack of formal recognition of their roles by Nigerian policymakers. The study employs qualitative interviewing and proxy ethnography for data collection. The study focuses on the city of Aba waste workers and provides new insights into the role of informal waste workers in Nigeria. The focus in the case study has been metal wastes. The study revealed that Circular economy of CDW in Nigeria happens through informal waste workers. Aba is an example of this process working well; however, the amount and type of reuse/recycling is undocumented and unrecognized. Building on the existing informal waste collection process in Nigeria may be more beneficial than trying to adopt the formal processes used in some other countries.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item - published (Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Architecture
Publisher:	Springer Nature Switzerland
ISBN:	9783031943157
Last Modified:	09 Feb 2026 11:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/184530

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