Transition to circular economy in the construction industry: Environmental aspects of waste brick recycling scenarios

Abstract

The extensive exploitation of natural resources, together with an inefficient use of end-of-life materials, results in the generation of vast amounts of waste. The current material streams are to be reconsidered to mitigate the environmental burdens and achieve the sustainability goals. However, these intentions usually lead to material downcycling, which does not provide significant environmental benefits. In this paper, the potential of waste brick recycling is assessed from the environmental point of view as the recycling options of waste bricks attract an eminent attention due to rationalization and optimization of material streams, including transformation to the circular economy model according to the EU commitments. Three different scenarios are taken into account in that respect: replacement of natural aggregate, partial replacement of cement binder, and alkaline activation. The life cycle methodology is used at the assessment and the obtained results are presented on both midpoint and endpoint levels. The analysis of environmental impacts shows only minor improvements resulting from the replacement of natural aggregates by recycled waste bricks. The partial replacement of cement by waste bricks in powdered form can provide the most substantial benefits including decarbonization of the construction sector. The application of alkaline activators can harm the potential of alkali-activated materials considerably due to their negative effects on human health. A complex assessment of recycling scenarios is found to preferable to one-sided analyses aimed at carbon dioxide emission reduction only if a real sustainability without any hidden risks is to be achieved.