Recycling and reuse of construction and demolition waste: From the perspective of national natural science foundation-supported research and research-driven application

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) has been a worldwide issue in the process of urbanization. Chinese government at all levels introduces numerous policies to promote the research and applications of CDW. With respect to financial grants, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) has played a huge role in advancing the basic RAC-related researches. This paper presents an information mining-based review on China’s recycling and reuse of CDW from the perspective of NSFC-supported research and research-driven application. A database including 146 approved NSFC projects in the field of RAC was compiled and single factor (i.e., academic title of person in charge, university level/quality, general research topic, university/institute location) influencing the funding ratio of NSFC were discussed. Available technical standards based on the achievements of basic research of RAC were collected, and the real engineering cases from low-rise to high-rise buildings was introduced. It is founded that both the quantity of the approved NSFC projects and the CDW production and utilization in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regions, China’s South-East coastal regions and South China regions are commensurate with the level of their regional developments. The guidance for applicants to increase the funding rate of NSFC was suggested after analyzing the future research trend.