Using Palm Oil By-Products to Reduce Environmental Impacts from Concrete: A Case Study

Abstract

The increasing need for sustainable development especially in the construction industry has led to utilization of palm oil by-products (POBPs) in concrete. Many studies on the structural properties of POBP concrete can be found in the literature. However, there are not many studies on their environmental impact. This paper aims to systematically determine the environmental impact of concrete made using POBPs using a public school building was as a case study. Two mixes were studied: (1) a conventional concrete mix with 420 kg/m3 of cement and compressive strength of 47.4 MPa; and (2) a concrete mix incorporating OPBC as a replacement for coarse natural aggregate with the similar cement content and compressive strength. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to calculate the environmental impacts. Results show that replacement of natural aggregates with OPBC would reduce damage to resources by 11.5%, ecosystem quality by 8% and human health by 2.3% and financial cost by 22.7%. Feasibility analysis showed that POBPs can potentially replace approximately 12.7% of natural aggregate consumed by the Malaysian construction industry.