Is concrete produced by recycled aggregates from construction and demolition wastes appropriate for use in building industry?

Abstract

<abstract> <p>The re-use of construction and demolition wastes (CDW) in concrete production gathers increasing interest in order to minimize the environmental footprint of the building industry. However, although its positive environmental impact seems evident, ambiguous literature data regarding the quality and safety aspects, raise doubts about CDW upcycling. The controversy seems to arise from the different materials and methods of construction and demolition used. Therefore, in order to reach an informed decision on whether concrete made using CDW can be usable, it is necessary to consider its physical, chemical, and mechanical properties and compare its technical and environmental performance to that of conventional concrete, taking into account specific materials and methods of construction.</p> </abstract>

Petrography of construction and demolition waste (CDW) from Abruzzo region (Central Italy)

“…2). The mineralogy of CDW concrete from Abruzzo is very similar to that analysed in southern Greece (Alexandridou et al, 2014) and relatively close to that coming from Veneto (Panizza et al, 2018). By contrast, the mixed CDW from Spain (Frias et al, 2020) and Portugal (Rodrigues et al, 2013) show a low to moderate amount of carbonates (calcite + dolomite) (Table S2 and Fig.…”

“…The amounts of the various crystalline phases in the CDW from Abruzzo are compared with those provided in four previous studies performed on CDW from the Veneto region in north-east of Italy (Panizza et al, 2018), central Spain (Frias et al, 2020), Portugal (Rodrigues et al, 2013) and southern part of Greece (Alexandridou et al, 2014). These investigations deal with either mixed CDW or selected groups like in here (Table S2).…”

“…Concrete is rich to very rich in cc, ornamental stones are made of cc only, whereas bricks, tiles, roof tiles and perforated bricks are cc-poor and -free, but rich in silicate crystalline phases. The other data from previous studies are from the following geographical regions: 1* -southern Greece (Alexandridou et al, 2014), central Spain (Frias et al, 2020), Portugal (Rodrigues et al, 2013) and Veneto region of Italy (Panizza et al, 2018). The acronyms are n.s.…”

“…The petrography of construction materials is still poorly investigated and known: specifically, only a limited number of studies worldwide investigated their mineralogical and/or chemical (i.e. petrographic) features (Bianchini et al, 2005 andLimbachiya et al, 2007;Rodrigues et al, 2013;Alexandridou et al, 2014;Komnitsas et al, 2015;Moreno-Perez et al, 2018;Panizza et al, 2018;Frias et al, 2020). The petrography of CDW can be variable as a function of available lithotypes (rocks), architectural and historical styles, as well as national (past and present) regulations of a geographical area.…”

Sustainability in the scope of civil construction: recycling of solid waste in concrete manufacturing

“…Os Resíduos de Construção e Demolição são resultantes das atividades do setor da construção civil, geralmente reformas, demolições, construções de edifícios, estruturas e afins, dentre eles materiais de madeira, vidro, compósitos, restos de tijolos e outros relativos ao ramo da construção civil (Alexandridou;Angelopoulos;Coutelieris, 2022).…”