Carbon Footprint of Recycled Aggregate Concrete

Abstract

Carbon footprint is one of the most widely used tools for assessing the environmental impacts of the production and utilization of concrete as well as of the components derived from it, representing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases associated with this product, expressed as CO2 equivalents. In this paper, carbon footprint was used to compare the environmental performance in the production phase of a concrete made with both recycled and crushed virgin limestone aggregates, using a life cycle analysis methodological approach. Research outcomes revealed, as expected, that carbon dioxide equivalent emissions decreased slightly as the use of recycled aggregates increased. Emissions for concrete with 0.5 w/c were between 347 and 351 kg of CO2-e/m3. It was also corroborated that cement is the material with the greatest influence on greenhouse gas emission generation in the concrete’s production phase, regardless of the use of recycled or virgin aggregates.

Influence of ZrO2 Nanoparticles on the Microstructural Development of Cement Mortars with Limestone Aggregates

“…Results indicated that the limestone aggregates contained a high magnesium percentage (Mg) as shown in Figure 2b. According to the literature [7,33,34], this could correspond to a type of aggregate not clastic, coming from sedimentary crushed rocks called dolomite.Therefore, it is a carbonate mineral (calcium magnesium carbonate, CaMg(CO3)2) formed by chemical or biological precipitations from seawater reacting with CaCO3, whose main components are calcite and dolomite. The X-ray diffraction analysis of the aggregates shows that the characteristic peaks corresponded to the crystalline structure of calcite and dolomite, as is possible to observe in Figure 3.…”

Effects of High Temperature and Cooling Pattern on the Chloride Permeability of Concrete

“…Recycling the waste concrete and bricks into recycled aggregate (RA) is the most effective method of reducing the amount of construction and demolition (C&D) wastes, which meets the sustainable development of construction industry [31,32]. e chloride permeability of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) has been investigated by many scholars, and the results highlight that the addition of RA increases the chloride permeability [33][34][35].…”

A Review of Carbon Footprint Reduction in Construction Industry, from Design to Operation

“…Construction demolition waste (CDW) stems from construction, renovation, and demolition workplaces which include (i) excavation materials, (ii) road building and maintenance materials, (iii) demolition materials, and (iv) other worksite waste materials, (e.g., unpainted, non-treated wood scrap, unpainted, non-treated wood pallets, plastic, packaging), land clearing, and development activities [ 72 ]. Construction waste is increasing in volume and affecting the environment adversely [ 73 ]. Over 80% of CDW is composed of excavated earth in construction works.…”