Use of C&D Waste in Development of Sustainable Walling Block

Author Name(s): Vaidehi Dakwale, Arpit Chachra, Ajit Barhate, Abhijeet Malewar
Author Email: dakwaleva@rknec.edu

Abstract

Due to the increasing land pressures the need to demolish old structures to make way for new ones is always going to increase. This leads to proliferation of construction waste and the problems attached to solid and construction waste management. This project aims to make a sustainable use of this construction and demolition waste. Survey of the study region was carried out to understand and quantify the construction and demolition waste scenario. The construction and demolition waste was procured, segregated, processed and developed into a sustainable walling block (SWB). This block was tested for its physical-mechanical and thermal properties. The results were compared with commercially available units. The energy savings were determined by assessment tool of TERI and it was found that a considerable amount of energy can be saved. The results show that the developed SWB are a feasible and proper method of utilization of waste generated by construction industry.

Introduction

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. A major hurdle in the path towards sustainable development is the improper handling of waste generated by various industries. Solid waste is an exponentially rising problem that will affect the future generations. Construction and demolition (hereafter referred as C&D) waste albeit just a chunk of a very large problem, is exponentially rising. Globally the estimated quantity of construction wastes generation was 12 billion tons in the year 2002. Annually, Asia alone generates 4.4 billion tons of solid wastes. Most of the Asian countries including PR China, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam do not have specific regulations designed for disposal of C&D wastes [1] In India about 14.5 MT of solid waste is generated annually from construction industry that includes waste sand, gravel, bitumen, bricks, masonry, and concrete. The entire mechanism of C&D waste is depicted in the Fig 1.

Conclusion

The study concludes that masonry waste portion out of C&D waste can be utilized as a raw material for the development of new construction material & thus a solution to the solid waste management problem. Manufacturing of SWB from C&D waste eliminates environmental impact of land filling and solid waste dumping. The compressive strength is more than the values suggested in IS code and also higher than the materials available in market. Compressive strength of Sample E of SWB was found to be 60.73, 57.07, 53.40 and 33.25% more than AAC, CLC, Fly ash and Red clay bricks respectively. Water absorption of the Sample E of SWB is within the limits as prescribed by IS code and is much lower than that of the walling materials available in market. Water absorption of Sample E for developed material found to be 240%, 379%, 101% and 144% less than AAC, CLC, Fly ash and Red clay bricks respectively. Density of Sample E for developed material is 105% and 25% more & 32% and 20% less than AAC, CLC and Fly ash and Red clay bricks respectively. From the observations and conclusions drawn it is recommended that Sample E with insulator can successfully be used as a sustainable walling material the construction projects. This is due to its high thermal performance, low water absorption, and good compressive strength. Insulating property of sample E helps in reducing overall energy consumption in a typical building by 20%.

550 total views, no views today

Download PDF File

About the author: admin