The construction industry requires the extraction of natural aggregates and cement in large quantities for new developments and maintenance of buildings and engineering infrastructures. However, extraction of these large quantities of natural resources has resulted in continuous depletion of earth’s natural resources which may lead to environmental degradation. Waste glass can be recycled as a replacement for natural aggregates and cement, therefore, reducing the amount of waste glass dumped in the landfill, and making exploration of natural aggregates unattractive and also reducing the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Conversely, perception on using recycled waste glass for construction is that an increase in cost will be witnessed and may not be as effective as natural aggregates but with more sophisticated research this perception is declining. This paper reviews recycled waste glass, the standards, and sustainable uses of waste glass as a construction material. As the world population continues to increase, including an increase in the standard of living, the volume of generated glass waste will only continue to increase. However, it is important that we need to understand more about the use of recycle waste material such as glass in construction. The use of recycled waste materials in building construction is viewed as a sustainable way of managing wastes and preserving the environment from further degradation.

With the increasing concerns on the impact of cement production on the environment and the need to protect the environment, the use of mineral additives as cementitious material to partially substitute cement is being considered as an effective option. One of such material is fired clay brick which can be sourced as generated waste from clay brick industry. This has an added advantage of reducing industrial waste and preserving the natural resources. The experimental objective of this study is to examine the possibility of utilizing clay brick waste as partial replacement for Portland cement in concrete. The clay brick was finely ground into powder size, and after grinding, the morphological characterization of the powder materials was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Moreover, the chemical composition of the brick material was determined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Laboratory tests were carried out to determine the workability, split tensile and compressive strength properties of the concrete with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% partial replacement of cement with ground clay brick (CB). From the test results, the chemical composition of the brick powder meets the standard requirements for pozzolanic material, with the SEM revealing an amorphous solid mass. The workability of the concrete reduces with increase in brick powder content. A significant improvement of the split tensile and compressive strength of the concrete was achieved at 10% cement replacement, after which a decrease in strength with increasing ground clay brick content was recorded. The use of ground clay brick of not more than 15% was recommended for concrete production.

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Use of waste materials in concrete is now a global trend for efficient waste management so as to achieve a sustainable green environment and with the added advantages of preserving the natural resources as well as producing a better performing concrete. This study examined the properties of concrete containing ground waste glass powder (GP) as partial replacement for cement. The waste glass was finely grounded into powder and the morphology imagery of the powder materials was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Moreover, the chemical composition of the glass powdered material was determined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Laboratory tests were carried out to determine the strength activity index, workability, split tensile and compressive strength properties of the concrete with 0%, 15%, 18%, 21%, 24%, 27% and 30% partial replacement of cement with the ground waste glass powder. The results showed that the oxides composition of the glass powder meets the requirements for pozzolanic material, while the SEM morphology shows materials of amorphous flaky solid masses, and based on the 28-day strength activity index, concrete containing 21% cement replacement shows a higher strength index above therecommended 75%. It was also observed that workability of the concrete reduced with increase in percentage glass content while significant improvement of the compressive strength of the concrete was achieved at 21% cement replacement, after which a decrease in strength with increasing percentage glass content was observed. The revealed results were confirmed by the microstructural examination using SEM showing a denser concrete at 21% cement replacement but increase porosityas the glass content increases. However, a decrease in split tensile strength was observed with increasing glass content. The results clearly showed that it is possible to produce moderate strength sustainable concrete for structural application using 20% glass powder as cement replacement.