Use of waste copper slag, a sustainable material

Abstract

The utilization of solid waste is the challenge for the civil and environmental engineers to utilize the waste from different industry to excel the sustainable development, and in the same time, it is matching with the cost concern of the present materials. Copper slag is a by-product obtained during smelting and refining of copper. The waste copper slag can be used as abrasive tools, road construction, and ballast. Despite increasing rate of reusing copper slag, the huge amount of its annual production is disposed in dumps or stockpiles to date. One of the greatest potential applications for reusing copper slag is in cement and concrete production. Many researchers have investigated the use of copper slag in the production of cement, mortar, and concrete as mixed with lime stone powder, dust, cement replacement, use as partial replacement of coarse, and fine aggregates. The use of copper slag in cement and concrete provides potential environmental as well as economic benefits for all related industries, particularly in areas where a considerable amount of copper slag is produced. This paper reviews the application area of copper slag and its allowable use in different activities.