Abstract
Since the construction sector uses 50% of the Earth’s raw materials and produces 50% of its waste, the development of more durable and sustainable building materials is crucial. Today, Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) is mainly used in low level applications, namely as unbound material for foundations, e.g., in road construction. Mineral demolition waste can be recycled as crushed aggregates for concrete, but these reduce the compressive strength and affect the workability due to higher values of water absorption. To advance the use of concrete rubble, Completely Recyclable Concrete (CRC) is designed for reincarnation within the cement production, following the Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) principle. By the design, CRC becomes a resource for cement production because the chemical composition of CRC will be similar to that of cement raw materials. If CRC is used on a regular basis, a closed concrete-cement-concrete material cycle will arise, which is completely different from the current life cycle of traditional concrete. Within the research towards this CRC it is important to quantify the benefit for the environment and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) needs to be performed, of which the results are presented in a this paper. It was observed that CRC could significantly reduce the global warming potential of concrete.
Highlights
It is known that the concrete industry has a considerable impact on the environment
Since this paper focuses on the material of concrete itself, the environmental impact of the use phase was not considered since a comparable impact is expected for the different concrete types
In order to prove the benefits for the environment of this Completely Recyclable Concrete (CRC) a life cycle assessment was conducted
Summary
It is known that the concrete industry has a considerable impact on the environment. Every year, 10 billion tons of concrete are produced [1]. For the production of 1 kg of cement, 1.6 kg of raw material are needed [3] Another impact of the concrete industry on the environment is related to the production of waste. Besides the benefits regarding the waste production and the use of raw materials, the CO2 emissions can be lowered significantly as less cement is needed for concrete production. To tackle the problem regarding the waste production of the concrete industry, a great deal of research has been done regarding the use of concrete rubble as aggregate. As an alternative of using concrete rubble as recycled aggregates, a project was started to study the possibilities of Completely Recyclable Concrete (CRC) This concrete is designed to be recycled within the cement production without need for adjustments, i.e., it is possible to produce cement with. The results of a life cycle assessment on two CRCs are presented within this paper
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