Effective management of waste glass: Application in the production of eco-friendly concrete

Abstract

Aggregates are one of the main components of concrete as they give volumetric stability to concrete structures. However, consuming natural aggregates dramatically impacts the environment destroying the ecosystem. Thus, it is crucial to find secondary resources that can provide an acceptable performance level as natural aggregates. Many countries, especially in Asia, have limited for natural aggregates; hence, making natural aggregate expensive. Therefore, recycling waste materials with the potential to be used as aggregates would mitigate this challenge thereby reducing the impact on the environment. Hence, researchers worldwide are replacing various kinds of waste materials with partial or complete replacements for the natural aggregates in concrete. In this research work, recycle waste glass aggregates are used to partly substitute natural fine and coarse aggregates in producing eco-friendly concrete. In this regard, 5–20% of recycled glass aggregates were used to replace natural aggregates in concrete. Concrete slump test, mechanical properties such as compressive and split tensile strength tests are conducted on eight concrete mixes. As the percentages of aggregates increased due to the angular shape of fine glass aggregates, it decreases the slump value of concrete. Nevertheless, from the results, it is stipulated that recycling of waste glass aggregates can be an alternative to natural aggregates for concrete if used properly. Successful uses of these aggregates can save the environment and waste disposal costs and significantly save the total production cost of concrete as the density of glass concrete is lighter than the concrete made from conventional aggregates.