Economic and Environmental Benefit Analysis between Crumb Rubber Concrete and Ordinary Portland Cement Concrete

Guanghong Xiong (), Safat Al-Deen, Xiao Guan, Qing Qin and Chenghua Zhang
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Guanghong Xiong: School of Civil and Architecture Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Safat Al-Deen: School of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT 2612, Australia
Xiao Guan: School of Civil and Architecture Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Qing Qin: School of Civil and Architecture Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Chenghua Zhang: School of Civil and Architecture Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Although manifold empirical studies have identified the mechanical properties of crumb rubber concrete (CRC), a comparative analysis of economic and environmental benefits between CRC and ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPCC) is not explored. In this paper, a quantitative meta-analysis between CRC and OPCC is conducted to explore optimized design strength, and a comparative analysis of the economic and environmental benefits of the two materials is undertaken. Considering cost price as the economic index and CO 2 emissions per cubic meter of concrete as the environmental index in the materialization stage, CRC and OPCC were compared with different mix designs to achieve grades of similar strengths. Upon replacing less than 20% of natural fine aggregates in concrete with crumb rubber, while retaining the cement content, an increase of 6% in the cost price was achieved for CRC with 30–40 MPa strength grade. Apart from the aspect of mining and transportation of natural aggregates, the reduction of CO 2 emissions by means of CRC adoption was verified in the treatment process of waste tire incineration. The results show that CO 2 emissions from CRC decreased by 15–17% when compared with OPCC for 30~40 MPa grade concrete. The research conclusion can serve as a theoretical basis for the engineering application of CRC with the same strength, and make certain contributions to the industrial application of crumb rubber aggregates and the sustainable treatment of waste tires.

Keywords: crumb rubber concrete; mechanical properties; economic cost; CO 2 emission; quantitative meta-analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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