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Despite the guidelines framed by the Indian government, there is non-compliance with site waste-management plans (SWMPs) as well as recycling at construction sites. This paper identifies the existing barriers and potential benefits and enforcement measures for implementing SWMP and recycling of construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Data gathered by means of a questionnaire survey, structured interviews and case studies are analysed using the beneficial index value (BIV) and relative mapping approach. From the results, it is concluded that factor B4 ('no guidelines are available in the company') has the highest BIV (6.70) and is the major barrier in implementing SWMPs. Factors BF4 (BIV: 7.42) with an efficient SWMP ('there will be conservation of natural resources) and MI8 (BIV: 7.32) ('legal requirements on environmental protection') are the most significant benefit and enforcement measure for SWMP implementation, respectively. Probable behavioural, legal, technical and marketing barriers for enforcement of recycling are identified, and the suggested measures for efficient recycling are as follows: (a) behavioural – enforcement of construction in government projects using recycled materials; (b) technical – development of code provisions for acceptable quantity of recycled construction waste (CW) in various building components; (c) legal – higher landfill charge with strict penalties for illegal dumping; and (d) marketing – increasing sales outlets for recycling material. Also, successful European C&D waste-management practices are compared with Indian initiatives to improve the CW management status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]