Sustainable building materials using textile effluent treatment plant sludge: a review

Abstract

A huge quantity of textile effluent sludge is generated from 21 076 textile units of India and dumped in large areas, leading to contamination of soil, surface water and groundwater. Hence, effective management of this sludge is important for its reuse and safe disposal. Considering the utilization of this waste in construction activities, the current paper explores the potential of textile sludge produced from textile industry effluent treatment plants. Many researchers have attempted to reuse this sludge for the development of sustainable construction materials and suggested its optimum usage as a partial substitution for fine aggregate, cement and clay with or without additives for the manufacturing of non-structural building components. This paper provides a critical review of the production of non-structural elements – namely, sustainable building blocks, clay bricks, mortar and paver blocks – using textile effluent treatment plant sludge and recommends optimum ranges of 5–30, 5–40, 5–50 and 20–40%, respectively. The prominent gaps are suggested as the outcome of studies such as techno-economic feasibility of the product, thermal and energy building simulation along with the life-cycle assessment and fatigue life assessment of the developed paver blocks.