Abstract
Mineral wools –a general term for stone wool and glass wool– are the most common building insulation materials in the world. The annual amount of mineral wool waste generated in Europe totaled 2.3 Mt in 2010 – including wastes from the mineral wool production and from the construction and demolition industry. Unfortunately, mineral wools are often considered unrecyclable due to their fibrous nature and low density. Thus, the utilisation of post-consumer mineral wool waste in different applications remains low.Mineral wools have a great potential as geopolymer precursors as they have suitable chemical and mineralogical compositions. As geopolymers can provide significant CO2 emission reductions compared to traditional Portland cement concretes, using mineral wool waste as geopolymer precursor would be an attractive utilisation path. Here, we show that mineral wool waste can be geopolymerised to form sustainable cements with good mechanical properties. Geopolymerisation of mineral wool waste therefore offers an attractive route for waste valorisation and production of low-CO2 cements.
Highlights
Mineral wools, including stone and glass wools, are the most common insulating materials in the world
As geopolymers can provide significant CO2 emission reductions compared to traditional Portland cement concretes, using mineral wool waste as geopolymer precursor would be an attractive utilisation path
The present study investigates the suitability of mineral wool waste for geopolymer precursor
Summary
Mineral wools, including stone and glass wools, are the most common insulating materials in the world. The production volumes are estimated to be 2/3 of stone wool (SW) and 1/3 of glass wool (GW), whereas slag wool is no longer produced in significant volume [1]. Mineral wool production creates waste and by-products, including mineral wool offcuts, the main mineral wool waste stream is generated by building construction and demolition (C&D) industry. The main current practice is to landfill this waste which causes high costs for the C&D industry as well as for mineral wool producers. Utilising mineral wool waste as a source material for alkali-activated binders, often called as geopolymers, prevents the landfilling costs and can provide an avenue for an additional profits for C&D and mineral wool manufacturing companies
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