Assessment of environmental impact of coarse aggregates substitution by crushed pavements in concrete mixtures

• Main Authors: Kočí Jan, Fořt Jan, Kočí Václav, Hager Izabela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EDP Sciences 2020-01-01
• Series: MATEC Web of Conferences
• Online Access: https://www.matec-conferences.org/articles/matecconf/pdf/2020/18/matecconf_matbud2020_01036.pdf

Inefficient use of end-of-life materials in combination with depletion of primary sources can be understood as a significant factor that motivates to effective waste material recycling and reuse. Since the construction industry produces millions of tons of building materials, which are continuously reaching their service life end, there is a great potential for their reuse instead of simple landfilling. In this light, concrete is a versatile building material that might incorporate lots of recycled building materials as it is demanding on primary sources. A substitution of coarse aggregates by recycled products is, therefore, one of the ways how to mitigate these environmental burdens. This paper aims at evaluation of environmental contributions of concrete with coarse aggregates being substituted by crushed concrete pavements. Various amounts of recycled aggregates were assumed (0%, 50%, and 100%) to reveal the environmental impacts. The analysis incorporates all inputs and outputs related to the production of concrete and recycling of concrete pavements (raw materials production, processing, transport emissions, energy production, etc.). The results indicate that substitution of coarse aggregates by recycled concrete pavements may bring significant mitigation of environmental impacts and hence it deserves further investigation.