Recycled Red-Clay Ceramic Construction and Demolition Waste for Mortars Production

Abstract

Recycled aggregates may make an important contribution toward decreasing the adverse consequences of the production and the dumping of construction and demolition waste (CDW) on the environment. The results of the experimental research work carried out at Lisbon’s Instituto Superior Técnico and Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil are presented in this article. Normalized laboratory tests to assess the performance of standard mortars were used to demonstrate the technical feasibility of recycling the waste produced by the ceramics industry and from the demolition of red-clay bricks or tiles to produce mortars with less/no consumption of natural aggregates. Results are very promising up to a replacement ratio of sand with ceramic waste of at least 20%. The paper presents useful data for the ceramics industry, builders and mortar manufacturing companies in terms of minimizing the impact of CDW and using eco-efficient materials.