Recycling of Cigarette Butts in Fired Clay Bricks: A New Laboratory Investigation

Kurmus, Halenur; Mohajerani, Abbas

doi:10.3390/ma13030790

Cited by 37 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Paper, cellulose acetate fibers and activated charcoal are used to made cigarette filters. Cigarette filters compose one of the major littered forms of waste in the world; the number of cigarettes produced each year is in the trillions, consequently, creating millions of waste tonnage [12].…”

Section: Cigarette Filtersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analyzing the Structural Properties of Fire Clay Bricks After Adding Cigarette Filters

Abdullatif

Guirguis

Moussa

2020

Wseas Transactions on Environment and Development

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Cigarette filters are one of the most littered objects in the world that damage the environment. Incorporation in construction bricks offers the prospect of limiting damage and solves the recyclability problem for a typical non-biodegradable waste. This paper aims to explore that prospect, by adding cigarette filters in the production of two samples of fired clay bricks with the cigarette filters comprising 5% and 10% of the volume. The mixing and molding processes were done manually which had an effect on the bricks when tested, The results of testing were corresponding with those of previous studies (outside Egypt), however, only one sample of 5% Cigarette butts volume bricks complied with the Egyptian standards for bricks used in non-load bearing uses. The industrial production of these bricks is highly recommended as it will surpass the required Egyptian standards, save a significant amount of natural resources and eliminate cigarette waste.

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Section: Cigarette Filtersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analyzing the Structural Properties of Fire Clay Bricks After Adding Cigarette Filters

Abdullatif

Guirguis

Moussa

2020

Wseas Transactions on Environment and Development

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“…The compressive strength, water absorption, initial rate of absorption, shrinkage, and density property results for the FCBs incorporating 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% CBs by wt. can be found in Kurmus and Mohajerani [ 19 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on several years of research, Mohajerani et al [ 15 ] proposed that the CB conundrum can potentially be eliminated by incorporating 1% CBs into 2.5% of the world’s total FCB production. Various mechanical and physical tests were conducted to determine the practicality and competency of incorporating toxic waste in the production of FCBs, and the results were promising [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. The tests included compressive strength, density, water absorption, initial rate of absorption, efflorescence, shrinkage, energy savings, thermal conductivity, and gas emissions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Fired Clay Bricks Incorporating Cigarette Butts

2021

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Cigarette butts (CBs) are the most common littered waste in the world and may contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the incomplete combustion of tobacco during burning. Therefore, to investigate the potential PAH residual remaining in fired clay bricks (FCBs) incorporating CBs and examine the environmental impact of utilizing toxic waste in the production of FCBs, a comprehensive PAH extraction analysis was conducted. The Soxhlet extraction method was utilized to conduct a qualitative and quantitative analysis of sixteen toxic Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in FCB samples incorporating CBs using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The concentrations of the mean total (Σ)PAHs for FCBs incorporating 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% CBs by weight (wt) were found to be 0.183, 0.180, 0.242, 0.234, and 0.463 µg/mL. As expected, PAHs with higher water solubility and volatility, naphthalene, fluorene, anthracene, pyrene, fluoranthene, and chrysene were found at higher concentrations compared to lipophilic PAHs. The ΣPAH concentrations for all five FCB–CB mixes were well below the EPA Victoria solid waste hazard categorization threshold for industrial waste. Moreover, the samples were studied for their carbon content using the carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur (CHNS) analyzer and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results confirm an almost 100% combustion process of CBs during the firing process. A content less than 0.3% suggests that all carbon within the FCB–CB mixture relatively disappeared during the firing process up to 1050 °C. However, further research regarding the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the production of FCBs incorporating CBs should be conducted.

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“…The properties of 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% CB content by mass bricks are shown in Table 2 [38,39]. The compressive strength of a brick is a crucial quality for construction materials.…”

Section: Properties Of Fired Clay Bricksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leachate Analysis of Heavy Metals in Cigarette Butts and Bricks Incorporated with Cigarette Butts

Kurmus

Mohajerani

2020

Materials

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Billions of cigarette butts (CBs) are discarded as litter in the environment every year worldwide. As CBs have poor biodegradability, it can take several years for them to break down while leaching toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Mohajerani et al. (2016), based on long-term research, developed a method for the recycling of CBs in fired clay bricks with promising results. This paper presents and discusses the leaching behavior of potentially hazardous metals from used, unused, and shredded used CBs, and unfired and fired clay bricks incorporating CBs. The leachate analysis was conducted according to the Australian Bottle Leaching Procedure (ABLP) for pH values 2.9, 5.0, and 9.2. The aim was to quantify the amount of heavy metals leached, determine the relationship between the metal concentration leachate, pH of the solution and condition of the sample, and examine the effect of firing on the leaching capability of bricks. The leachate results were then compared to the concentration limits for heavy metals set by the United States Environmental Protection Authority (USEPA) national primary drinking water and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) solid industrial waste hazard categorization thresholds to assess the suitability of fired clay bricks incorporating CBs. Metals Cu, Zn, Mn, Al, Fe, Ti, and Ba demonstrated the highest leachate concentrations for pH 2.9 and pH 5.0 for used CBs. This suggests that used CBs are more prone to leaching heavy metals in areas with highly acidic rain compared to the natural range of precipitation. The leaching behavior of fired bricks incorporating CBs was considerably lower than that for the unfired bricks due to the immobilization of heavy metals during the firing process. However, the leaching of Cr and Ni was almost completely impeded after the firing of the bricks, and more than 50% of all the tested heavy metals were hindered.

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Recycling of Cigarette Butts in Fired Clay Bricks: A New Laboratory Investigation

Cited by 37 publications

References 36 publications

Analyzing the Structural Properties of Fire Clay Bricks After Adding Cigarette Filters

Analyzing the Structural Properties of Fire Clay Bricks After Adding Cigarette Filters

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Fired Clay Bricks Incorporating Cigarette Butts

Leachate Analysis of Heavy Metals in Cigarette Butts and Bricks Incorporated with Cigarette Butts

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