Sustainable use of recycled waste glass as an alternative material for building construction – A review

Abstract

The construction industry requires the extraction of natural aggregates and cement in large quantities for new developments and maintenance of buildings and engineering infrastructures. However, extraction of these large quantities of natural resources has resulted in continuous depletion of earth’s natural resources which may lead to environmental degradation. Waste glass can be recycled as a replacement for natural aggregates and cement, therefore, reducing the amount of waste glass dumped in the landfill, and making exploration of natural aggregates unattractive and also reducing the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Conversely, perception on using recycled waste glass for construction is that an increase in cost will be witnessed and may not be as effective as natural aggregates but with more sophisticated research this perception is declining. This paper reviews recycled waste glass, the standards, and sustainable uses of waste glass as a construction material. As the world population continues to increase, including an increase in the standard of living, the volume of generated glass waste will only continue to increase. However, it is important that we need to understand more about the use of recycle waste material such as glass in construction. The use of recycled waste materials in building construction is viewed as a sustainable way of managing wastes and preserving the environment from further degradation.