Construction Use of Municipal-Solid-Waste Ash

Abstract

Many cities and towns are rapidly depleting landfill space. As a result, some communities have opted to incinerate their municipal solid waste (MSW). The motive behind the choice is that incineration significantly reduces the volume of solid waste in need of disposal, destroys the harmful organic compounds that are present in MSW, and provides an attractive source of alternative energy. As a result, the generation of MSW ash is expected to increase in the future. However, disposing the MSW ash in landfills may not always be an environmentally or an economically feasible solution. This paper addresses the various issues associated with MSW ash and its possible use in construction applications. The innovative use of MSW ash in the production of polymer concrete (PC) has also been investigated. Experimental results show that good-quality PC could be produced using MSW ash. The potential construction applications of PC using MSW ash are also reported.