In the context of Malaysian infrastructure projects, the integration of circular economy (CE) principles presents a strategic opportunity to enhance resource efficiency, reduce waste, and promote long-term environmental and economic resilience. The country's reliance on manufacturing has led to increased waste and pollution, necessitating a sustainable approach. Therefore, this study aims to identify critical countermeasures for advancing CE concept into the design and construction stages of Malaysian infrastructure projects. By identifying countermeasures from both systematic literature review and interview, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to construction industry stakeholders ranging from clients, contractors, consultants as well as related authorities. A total of 155 survey were returned representing 82.8% response rate. Then, the Cronbach’s alpha test was used to check reliability levels of the questionnaires (i.e. Likert scale question), while normalized mean value was used to establish the critical factors that affecting the CE implementation. The findings suggested that the critical countermeasures are financial support and incentives, legislation, policies, technical support and tools, regulation, knowledge, systematic planning and strategy, promoting economic benefit and raising awareness. In order to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 11, this study will act as a guide for stakeholders on the critical barriers used to overcome the barriers when integrating CE into design and construction of infrastructure projects. This study proposes a new approach to infrastructure design and construction using the CE concept, aiming to create jobs and economic growth by investing in eco-innovations, secondary raw materials, recycling processes, industrial symbiosis, and product integrity, particularly in Malaysia's infrastructure projects.