Sustainable Use of By-Products and Wastes from Greece to Produce Innovative Eco-Friendly Pervious Concrete

This study was based on the reduction of the extraction of natural resources and, at the same time, was focused on the use of by-products and various wastes in construction applications by following the principles of circular economy. Sterile natural rocks (limestones, basalts), industrial by-products (slags), hotel construction wastes (bathroom wastes) and electronic wastes (e-wastes) were tested for pervious concrete aggregates. For this reason, ten concrete specimens were prepared and tested petrographically, structurally, and physically. The physical properties of the tested raw materials directly depended on their petrographic characteristics and played crucial role for the permeability of the produced concrete specimens, for their mechanical behavior, and for the freeze-thaw test results. Generally, from this study, strong encouraging results were achieved as concrete made by variable wastes and by-products can be compatible for concrete production as they show similar performance both in the mechanical strength test and in the freeze-thaw test with those made by natural aggregates. Another goal of this study was to recommend to other researchers the extended use of by-products, construction wastes, and e-wastes as concrete aggregates for producing eco-friendly constructions.

Automated summary

This study explores the potential of using by-products and waste materials in construction applications as a replacement for natural resources based on the principles of circular economy. The results show that the concrete made from these variable wastes and by-products performs similarly to concrete made from natural aggregates in terms of mechanical strength and freeze-thaw resistance, making them suitable for producing eco-friendly constructions.