Stakeholders’ Perception and Adoption of Upcycling for Material Utilisation Plans in Road Construction: The Case of South Africa

Transportation infrastructure underpins national mobility and economic growth, yet material sourcing for road construction imposes significant environmental and financial costs. As South Africa advances towards road construction, upcycling the reuse of reclaimed materials in higher-value applications offers opportunities to reduce waste and improve circular resource efficiency. This study assesses stakeholders’ perception and adoption of upcycling in the Material Utilisation Plans (MUPs) for road construction. A mixed-methods approach combined nine semi-structured interviews and thirty-two survey responses from professionals involved in the National Route 3 upgrade project. Thematic analysis identified key qualitative themes, while quantituative data from a five-point Likert scale were examined through descriptive statistics, reliability, and correlation analysis. Respondents supported existing downcycling practices (mean = 3.682, SD = 1.088) and expressed readiness to adopt upcycling for pavement surfacing, base, subbase, and subgrade (mean > 3.00, SD < 1.30). Major barriers included client specifications, limited awareness and material cost constraints. Reliability analysis (Cronbach’s α = 0.64–0.88) confirmed internal consistency across qualitative themes. Also, there was a positive correlation between reclaimed materials and cost, design specifications, and optimised cost (r > 0.30, p < 0.05), while downcycling correlated negatively with costs (r = −0.400, p < 0.05). This study provides new empirical evidence on the systemic barriers hindering upcycling adoption in South African road projects and offers a validated mixed-method framework linking perceptual, technical, and economic dimensions of material reuse. It recommends integrating upcycling criteria into design, testing, and procurement processes, shifting from compliance-based recycling to performance-based circular material management in national road infrastructure.