Waste Management for Green Concrete Solutions: A Concise Critical Review

Abstract

Reinforced concrete based on ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is one of the most commonly used materials in modern buildings. Due to the global growth of the building industry, concrete components have been partially or completely replaced with waste materials that can be used as binders or aggregates. Besides the ecological aspects, modern architecture widely needs materials to make the concrete durable, resisting large loads and various detrimental forces in the environment. This opens the possibilities of managing waste materials and applying them in practice. This paper presents a concise review of the green solutions for ecofriendly materials in the building industry that deal with the practical application of materials commonly treated as waste. The main emphasis was placed on their influence on the properties of the building material, optimal composition of mixtures, and discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each of the “green” additives. It turned out that some solutions are far from being ecofriendly materials, as they leech and release numerous harmful chemicals into the environment during their presence in concrete. Finally, the paper suggests a research direction for the development of an ecofriendly structural material for a sustainable future.

Special Issue “Feature Papers in Recycling 2022”

“…Finally, the authors in [10] completed a review of some issues related to the use of waste materials as binders or aggregates in concrete production. The authors reviewed all the concrete additives recycled from other sectors, such as agriculture, electronics, or the plastics industry, and focused on the final properties of the obtained materials, their optimal compositions, and the related pros and cons.…”

Sustainable development goals for industry, innovation, and infrastructure: demolition waste incorporated with nanoplastic waste enhanced the physicomechanical properties of white cement paste composites

“…Particularly, in the last 5 years, the usage of plastic in food packing and PPE has hugely increased. Thus, with an increase in the production of plastic factories, the volume increases and the PW cannot be stored or recycled in the conventional ways (e.g., landfilling and/or burning) (Owaid et al 2022 ; Osial et al 2022 ; Salih et al 2022 ). In 2025, the production of plastic waste may reach 21 BT (Ncube et al 2021 ; Hahladakis et al 2020 ).…”

Artificial rabbit optimization‐based ANFIS model development for predicting the compressive strength of GGBFS‐based concrete

“…4 Hence, many academics and practitioners have turned to green cementitious materials as a partial substitute for OPC in recent years. 5,6 Fly ash, silica fume, and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) are a few examples of these ecologically acceptable admixtures. These additives successfully use the wastes from different industrial processes in addition to assisting in the reduction of CO 2 produced during the production of OPC.…”

“…Hence, many academics and practitioners have turned to green cementitious materials as a partial substitute for OPC in recent years 5,6 . Fly ash, silica fume, and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) are a few examples of these ecologically acceptable admixtures.…”