Circular Economy Awareness, Maturity, and Circular Material Flows in the Construction Industry

This study examines the associations among circular economy (CE) awareness, CE maturity, and circular material flows in the construction industry using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The analysis is based on cross-sectional self-reported survey data collected from 265 firms within the Sustainable Habitat Cluster of Medellín, Colombia. The proposed model examines relationships among cognitive, organizational, and operational dimensions of circularity across the construction supply chain. Results indicate that CE awareness is positively associated with both CE maturity and circular material flows, suggesting that firms reporting higher levels of CE knowledge, communication, training, and access to information systems also report stronger organizational engagement with circular economy initiatives and better circularity outcomes. In contrast, the association between CE maturity and circular material flows was not statistically significant, and no significant mediation effect was observed. These findings indicate that the CE implementation capabilities captured by the maturity construct were not significantly associated with stronger operational circularity outcomes within the sampled firms. The study provides empirical evidence from an emerging-economy construction cluster and highlights the importance of complementing awareness-building initiatives with organizational and operational mechanisms that facilitate the implementation of circular practices across construction ecosystems.