The application possibilities of waste materials in concrete – the current state in Serbia

Abstract

The construction industry uses vast amounts of natural resources, simultaneously producing significant amounts of debris, which has a large impact on the environment. Annual production of concrete in the world has reached 14 billion m3 which classifying it as the most widely used construction material. Regards to the fact about 70% of concrete is actually an aggregate, it is clear how much of the quantities of natural and crushed aggregates is required. The uncontrolled exploitation of aggregates from rivers seriously disrupts aquatic ecosystems and habitats, while production of crushed natural aggregates increases emission of harmful gases, primarily CO2, responsible for the greenhouse effect. These gases are produced during rock mining and also transportation of aggregates to the usually distant urban areas. Also, cement factories produce about 7% of global CO2. On the other hand, the amount of construction waste generated during construction and demolition process, as well as the amount of industrial waste, are growing rapidly. The problem of waste disposal is usually resolved by established (which are occupying large areas and waste disposal is expensive) or "wild" - illegal dumps. If we used any of the industrial by-products, such as fly ash, silica fume, biomass, or try to reuse glass from e-waste and old concrete-we would solve the problem of depositing these materials, and thus made concrete ecological material. This paper presents the current state in this field in Serbia.