Recycling of Concrete and Masonry

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Recycling is essential to reduce the amount of solid waste, which is becoming a global environmental crisis, in addition to conserving the world resources, which are becoming scarce, to the future generations. In this research, the use of structural waste, namely recycled concrete, is addressed. As a result of the hydration process, the hardened concrete contains a considerable amount of Calcium Hydroxide (lime) and, in addition, it contains silica, which is the main component of sand. The utilization of grind recycled concrete in the production of autoclaved lime-silica bricks is addressed. The production technology including the autoclaving time and temperature is included along with the properties of the resulting bricks. The reported properties include compressive strength, absorption and specific gravity. Recycled concrete may be also crushed and utilized as aggregates in the production of new concrete. The properties of those aggregates along with the properties and durability of concrete, produced using this type of aggregates, were discussed.