CIRCULAR ECONOMY APPROACHES MODEL FOR CERAMIC-WASTE AGGREGATE CONCRETE
- Authors
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Israa Hussein Ali
Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Babylon, Babylon 51001, Iraq
Author
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- Keywords:
- Circular economy model (CEM); ceramic waste (CW); recycled aggregate concrete.
- Abstract
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Substitution of virgin aggregate with processed ceramic waste (CW) may support circular building. Yet, a high substitution does not assure mechanically feasible or ecologically preferable concrete. Here, we provide a quantitative Circular Economy Approaches Model that combines material-loop closure, cradle-to-gate environmental indicators, aggregate-system economics, and mechanical-performance protections for ceramic-waste aggregate concrete. The experimental database was obtained from published work and consisted of a natural-aggregate control and eight mixes where the CW replaced 25–100% of the fine or coarse aggregate individually. Mass-balance equations evaluated ceramic-waste diversion, avoided virgin-aggregate consumption, and circular material percentage for a functional unit of 1 m3 of concrete, whereas benchmark-calibrated computations calculated global-warming potential, embodied energy, and aggregate-system cost. The measured 7- and 28-day compressive, splitting-tensile and flexural strengths were used in a control normalized mechanical-performance index. The findings indicated that the best-balanced combination is FA3 with 75% substitution of ceramic-sand. FA3 reached compressive strength of 39.14 MPa, splitting-tensile strength of 3.50 MPa, flexural strength of 4.38 MPa and the greatest mechanical-performance index of 1.117 after 28 days. The combination reused 450 kg/m³ of CW, substituting an equal amount of natural sand and reaching a circular material share of 32.14%. The benchmark-calibrated scenario resulted in a 17.71% reduce in global-warming potential, a 15.07% decrease in embodied energy, and a 38.63% reduction in aggregate-system cost compared to the control. CA4, the option with the best mass-based circularity and theoretical environmental-economic savings, failed the required mechanical safeguard, thereby illustrating that maximal waste incorporation is not a sufficient optimization criteria.
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- Published
- 2026-09-03
- Issue
- Vol. 2 No. 9 (2026)
- Section
- Articles
- License
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
