Environmental and Economic Viability of Using Concrete Block Wastes from a Concrete Production Plant as Recycled Coarse Aggregates

Abstract

The construction sector must incorporate the circular economy to improve sustainability and efficiency. The use of recycled aggregates (RAs) as a substitute for natural aggregates (NAs) is currently being investigated and is expected to yield considerable benefits in the future. The objective of this research is to evaluate the environmental and economic benefits of using recycled coarse aggregates (RCAs) in different 1 m3 samples of concrete, substituting the natural coarse aggregate (NCAs) with RCAs in different percentages. RCAs generally come from the treatment of construction and demolition wastes (CDWs). However, in this research, the RCAs are the concrete block wastes (CBWs) generated by a concrete production plant. Among the most notable results is that compared to concrete with no RCAs, using alternatives in which RCAs have replaced 50% of the NCAs leads to an average decrease in impact category statistics of −3.30%. In contrast to the existing literature on the subject, the process of producing RCAs generated efficiency improvements in categories such as abiotic depletion of fossil fuels (−58.72%) and global warming potential (−85.13%). This is because the transport process, a key factor in determining the viability of using RAs instead of NAs, was eliminated. In economic terms, there is a slight decrease in the financial cost of producing 1 m3 of concrete as the quantity of RCAs increases. The maximum decrease was 0.23€/m3 in the samples studied. Combining both the environmental and economic aspects resulted in a reduction factor of 0.420 g of CO2/€cent, which means fewer CO2 emissions per unit cost when using RCAs. In conclusion, these results are intended to further knowledge in the field of using RAs instead of NAs in order to help the sector achieve sustainability and find an alternative use for a particular type of business waste.