Strategies for Waste Recycling: The Mechanical Performance of Concrete Based on Limestone and Plastic Waste

Marco Filippo Ferrotto, Panagiotis G. Asteris, Ruben Paul Borg and Liborio Cavaleri
Additional contact information
Marco Filippo Ferrotto: Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Panagiotis G. Asteris: Computational Mechanics Laboratory, School of Pedagogical and Technological Education, 14121 Athens, Greece
Ruben Paul Borg: Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta
Liborio Cavaleri: Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Recycling is among the best management strategies to avoid dispersion of several types of wastes in the environment. Research in recycling strategies is gaining increased importance in view of Circular Economy principles. The exploitation of waste, or byproducts, as alternative aggregate in concrete, results in a reduction in the exploitation of scarce natural resources. On the other hand, a productive use of waste leads to a reduction in the landfilling of waste material through the transformation of waste into a resource. In this frame of reference, the paper discusses how to use concrete as a container of waste focusing on the waste produced in limestone quarries and taking the challenge of introducing plastic waste into ordinary concrete mixes. To prove the possibility of reaching this objective with acceptable loss of performance, the mechanical characteristics of concrete mixed with additional alternative aggregates classified as waste are investigated and discussed in this paper through the presentation of two experimental campaigns. The first experimental investigation refers to concrete made with fine limestone waste used as a replacement for fine aggregate (sand), while the second experimental program refers to the inclusion of three types of plastic wastes in the concrete. Different mixes with different percentages of wastes are investigated to identify possible fields of application. The experimental results indicate that use of limestone quarry waste and use of plastic waste are possible within significant percentage ranges, having recognized a limited reduction of concrete strength that makes concrete itself appropriate for different practical applications.

Keywords: concrete; waste recycling; plastic; limestone; sustainability; mechanical performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1706/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1706/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1706-:d:740482

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().