Self-fulfillment degree of construction and demolition waste management capability based on the Triple-balance theory: A case study of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

•The self-fulfillment degree of C&DW management capability was explored.•The Triple-balance theory was innovatively applied to C&DW management.•Model to evaluate the C&DW management capability was developed.•The current situation of C&DW generation and treatment in GBA was revealed.•Tactics to promote the cross-regional management of C&DW in GBA were proposed. Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) has become part of the largest waste stream globally and many cities are facing the shortage of management capability to treat C&DW. These cities seek to transport their C&DW to their neighbor cities for recycling or landfilling, which is recognized as the cross-regional management of C&DW. However, there were few studies to investigate the mechanism of cross-regional mobility in C&DW field. This study developed a model to evaluate the self-fulfillment degree of C&DW management capability at regional level based on the Triple-balance theory. Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) was selected as the study case, and the data was collected through on-site surveys, expert interviews, and desktop surveys. The results showed that the self-fulfillment degree of C&DW management capability of the cities, such as Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing was high, which meant these cities could well manage the C&DW generated within the regions under current situation. The self-fulfillment degree of management capability of Macao, Huizhou, and Zhongshan was evaluated as medium; while the indicators of Hong Kong and Shenzhen fell into low category, which meant they needed to transport surplus C&DW to other cities for further treatment. The research is significant as it provides an innovative evaluation model considering the cross-regional mobility for C&DW management performance assessment. Besides, the findings could assist the waste management sectors to plan the C&DW treatment facilities in GBA, while other cities could also benefit from this study regarding to the cross-regional mobility management of C&DW.