M. Reza Hosseini - Research Assistant, School of Natural and Built Environments, Barbara Hardy Institute (BHI), University of South Australia
Nicholas Chileshe - Senior Lecturer, School of Natural and Built Environments, Barbara Hardy Institute (BHI), University of South Australia
Raufdeen Rameezdeen - Senior Lecturer, School of Natural and Built Environments, Barbara Hardy Institute (BHI), University of South Australia
Steffen Lehmann - Professor, School of Art, Architecture and Design, Barbara Hardy Institute (BHI), University of South Australia

The mounting environmental concerns along with the fierce competition dominating the today’s business environment have given rise to the necessity of enhancing the Supply Chain Management (SCM) of construction companies. One remedial solution to the foraging issues, is adding Reverse Logistics (RL) practices to the SCM systems entailing the systematic management of the flow of materials from the established buildings back to the construction market and projects for reuse. There is a large general agreement on the great benefits of adopting RL for construction companies particularly in terms of fulfilling the environmental concerns and enhancing the competitiveness level. Nevertheless, the construction industry has not kept pace in reaping the benefits of RL compared to the manufacturing industry. One reason for this might be due to the immaturity of Supply Chain Management (SCM) and RL literature in construction field. To establish this field further, the purpose defined for this paper is twofold. Firstly, it presents a review of on major aspects associated with RL in the building industry along with establishing the terms and concepts. Secondly, the study attempts to promote implementing RL in organizations by illustrating the enormous benefits of adopting RL practices in construction projects. This also entails shedding light on the barriers of implementing RL in construction context to enable practitioners of suppressing and modifying the adverse effects of barriers. The paper will conclude by presenting the lucrative grounds for future research studies on RL field.

Reverse Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Closed-loop Material flow, Deconstruction, Project, construction