Abstract
Recycling is among the best management strategies to avoid dispersion of several types of wastes in the environment. Research in recycling strategies is gaining increased importance in view of Circular Economy principles. The exploitation of waste, or byproducts, as alternative aggregate in concrete, results in a reduction in the exploitation of scarce natural resources. On the other hand, a productive use of waste leads to a reduction in the landfilling of waste material through the transformation of waste into a resource. In this frame of reference, the paper discusses how to use concrete as a container of waste focusing on the waste produced in limestone quarries and taking the challenge of introducing plastic waste into ordinary concrete mixes. To prove the possibility of reaching this objective with acceptable loss of performance, the mechanical characteristics of concrete mixed with additional alternative aggregates classified as waste are investigated and discussed in this paper through the presentation of two experimental campaigns. The first experimental investigation refers to concrete made with fine limestone waste used as a replacement for fine aggregate (sand), while the second experimental program refers to the inclusion of three types of plastic wastes in the concrete. Different mixes with different percentages of wastes are investigated to identify possible fields of application. The experimental results indicate that use of limestone quarry waste and use of plastic waste are possible within significant percentage ranges, having recognized a limited reduction of concrete strength that makes concrete itself appropriate for different practical applications.
Highlights
Over the years the accumulation of waste has become a serious problem due to challenges in its disposal, and population growth, urbanization, industries, and trade in the world have significantly increased the production of waste
The experimental research and results from previous studies conducted by the authors are briefly described with the aim of providing an overview on the mechanical performance of concrete based on the replacement of fine aggregate with limestone waste sand
The paper results of anlimestone experimental carried concrete be still considered adequateasfor use in structural application for load-bearing mixed with waste materials replacement and additional aggregate
Summary
Over the years the accumulation of waste has become a serious problem due to challenges in its disposal, and population growth, urbanization, industries, and trade in the world have significantly increased the production of waste. The exploitation of PET fibers in concrete has been assessed with respect to early age performance and crack behavior and mechanical properties including compressive strength and flexural performance [24] Another aspect that is focused on in the literature is the evaluation of durability, finding satisfactory results in the case of mixes with limestone dust [20,21,22,23,24,25,26], and a certain reduction in the overall performances in the case of mixes with plastics [27,28,29]. The results of two experimental investigations are presented: the first one is carried out on concrete produced with fine limestone waste generated in the area of Trapani in Sicily as a by-product of quarrying activities. Remarks on the potential applications of the concrete based on waste materials are presented at the end of the paper
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