Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Recycled & Secondary Materials in the Construction of Roads

Abstract

Introduction: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of recycled and secondary materials in the construction of roads is used to demonstrate the environmental impact of the use of the material from the process of the origin of the material to the end use of the material. This research paper will assess India’s most commonly used construction material. Based on the literature review of the most used construction materials, the bricks and concrete are chosen for detailed study based on the emerging LCA method. Methods: The method used for this assessment is the LCA model. The LCA method consists of four main phases: goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory (LCI), life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), and interpretation. Results: The assessment showed us that the long-term use of construction material bricks is not sustainable. Our results showed that while concrete is more durable than bricks and is widely used, the government does not promote the construction of roads using concrete and bricks. Conclusions: The environmental impact of the LCA of construction materials like bricks and concrete can be recycled and used for road construction, and thus, we can reduce the negative impact of construction debris. We concluded that the use of construction debris in the development of roads could help in multiple ways, like reducing solid waste generation, and the issue of the fast filling of landfill sites due to the dumping of construction debris can be reduced to a great extent. While there is limited use of debris in the construction of roads, there are great opportunities for developing more environmentally friendly uses of construction debris in the future. Recommendations: Based on this study, we recommend using construction debris for transport corridor projects to make them more sustainable in the long run.