Decision making behaviours and management mechanisms for construction and demolition waste recycling based on public–private partnership

Generation of construction and demolition waste (CDW) is a challenge for sustainable development. Recycling is required in response to energy consumption and natural resource depletion caused by CDW. Public–private partnership (PPP) mode provides a strategy for CDW recycling. This study aims to investigate the decision-making behaviours of the government and recyclers and propose management mechanisms to improve CDW recycling. Based on evolutionary game model, the influencing factors of stakeholders’ behavioural strategies were identified, including the government supervision costs, penalty, subsidy, the benefits and costs of recyclers’ cooperation and opportunism and consumers’ purchase intention. The results revealed how the initial strategy proportions, penalties, subsidies and consumers’ purchase intentions affect the evolutionary paths of stakeholders’ decision-making behaviours in CDW recycling PPP projects. The larger the initial strategy value, the faster the evolutionary trajectory reaches ESS (0, 1). The penalty can restrain speculative behaviours of recyclers, whilst the subsidy has no significant effect. Consumer purchase intention can reduce the cost of government supervision and improve the cooperation efficiency of recyclers. These findings may contribute to enriching the body of knowledge in CDW and providing management mechanisms for CDW recycling practice. Appropriate penalty, subsidy and financial support policies should be formulated to promote the development of CDW recycling PPP projects.