Use of recycled by-products as cement mortar binders and aggregates to lower the carbon footprint

Abstract

The increasing generation of waste materials means alternatives need to be found for their final disposal. The reuse of industrial by-products in mortar production offers many benefits such as economic and environmental. To give a specific use to these by-products many tests may be driven to ensure an effective replacement and that such replacement will not affect to the final properties of the mortar. Such replacements in a cement mortar base can be done by substituting an inert aggregate or by replacing the reactive binder. Most common and spread replacements of the mortar binders have been done by several industries using FCC (fluid catalyst cracking) coming from the fluidized bed of petroleum refining. Also, until now fly ashes have been widely used in cementitious binders in addition to Portland cement. However, the gradual closure of coal-fired plants raises a problem of future availability of fly ashes. Thus, biomass ashes may be considered a more sustainable alternative to fly ashes