Abstract
Reduction in the availability of natural raw materials is forcing concrete industry to adopt environmentally friendly approaches. The use of recycled materials in concrete production has become a popular approach to lower the environmental footprint of the concrete production. Glass is one of the most consumed materials that can be easily collected and recycled. Glass use in concrete production may potentially reduce the amount of natural raw materials used in concrete production and prevents the use of virgin lands for landfilling purposes. Reported work initially investigates the fresh and hardened performances of recycled glass sand (RGS) incorporated concrete and further sustainability analysis was also carried out to assess their suitability from the environmental and economical sustainability point of view. In this regard, concretes made with partially substituted RGS (10% by mass replacement) with equivalent 28-day compressive cube strengths of 30 N/mm 2 and 45 N/mm 2 were produced. The results showed that the use RGS could improve concrete fresh properties slightly. Use of RGS by 10% as a replacement to natural fine aggregate was observed to reduce compressive strength at early ages by approximately 10% and 14% but strength losses were minimized to 0.6% and 10.5% for 30-RGS and 45-RGS respectively at 28-days compared to conventional concrete mixes. Ultrasonic pulse velocity results showed that RGS incorporation provide either similar or denser matrix compared to conventional mixes. Results indicated that use of RGS as a fine aggregate replacement could lead to environmentally sustainable concrete production if it is supplied within range of 14.4 km. It is also revealed that RGS could provide cost-efficient concrete production on the condition of supplied from closer facilities.
Highlights
Concrete is the second most consumed material in the world after water (Gagg, 2014)
The results showed that the use recycled glass sand (RGS) could improve concrete fresh properties slightly
*0.138 (1) Bath Inventory; (2) International Maritime Organization; (3)Rossit, G. & Lawson, M.; * represents data obtained from the suppliers and available scientific sources. *Water eCO2 emissions were obtained from North Cyprus relevant governmental body; Aggregates eCO2 emissions through transportation were calculated depending on the distance from the extraction to production site in collaboration with KASCON Ready-mixed concrete company
Summary
Concrete is the second most consumed material in the world after water (Gagg, 2014). It is estimated that approximately 4.4 billion tonnes of concrete is being produced annually for different applications (Hilburg, 2019). According to Limbachiya (Limbachiya, 2009), fresh properties of concrete could be negatively affected when natural fine aggregates were replaced by 30% recycled glass sand (RGS). A study by Soliman (Soliman, 2017) reported improvements in fresh properties with higher RGS replacement levels. From the hardened properties point of view, Rashid (Rashid, 2018) reported slight reductions for the bulk density as the glass waste content is increased. Another study by Guo (Guo, 2018) revealed that use of glass aggregates with 100% replacement level led to reduction in hardened density due to lower specific gravity of glass compared to natural sand. A study by Özkan (Özkan , 2008) reported that either similar or higher UCS values can be achieved at 7 and 28 days with 10% RGS replacement levels. Environmental and economical sustainability analyses were carried out to identify under which conditions RGS use in concrete could be an environmentally friendly and economically viable approach on the course of sustainable development
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