Happison Muzioreva, Innocent Musonda, T. Gumbo
Globally, the construction industry produces around 40% of all annual waste, making it a major contributor to environmental challenges within the built environment. While digital tools and circular economy practices have shown promise in reducing construction and demolition waste, most research focuses on developed countries. This paper seeks to understand the current state of digitalization in construction and demolition waste (CDW) management, identify key themes and trends, and provide guidance for adopting digital technologies to support sustainable construction waste management in developing countries. The PRISMA methodology and the archival research methods were used to identify papers published in the last 10 years through Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The results show that of the 60 papers that were identified most of the research is concentrated in Europe and Asia. BIM was also found to be the most digital tool used in managing construction and demolition waste. More advanced technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and robotics, are mainly applied at demolition and recycling stages to support waste identification and material recovery. Based on the findings, the study outlines a phased approach to digital CDW management for developing countries, starting with BIM-based waste prevention and progressing towards more integrated, standardized, and scalable digital solutions that support sustainable industrialization in the built environment. As a mapping-focused study, this review emphasized the classification of digital tools and their applications; future studies should focus on empirical evaluations and comparative analyses to provide deeper performance-based insights into digital solutions for CDW management.