Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

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Resources, Conservation & Recycling

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/resconrec

Review

Recycling of landfill wastes (tyres, plastics and glass) in construction – A

review on global waste generation, performance, application and
future opportunities
Wahid Ferdous a, *, Allan Manalo b, Rafat Siddique c, Priyan Mendis d, Yan Zhuge e,
Hong S. Wong f, Weena Lokuge g, Thiru Aravinthan h, Peter Schubel i
a
Senior Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland, Centre for Future Materials (CFM), QLD 4350, Australia
b
Professor, University of Southern Queensland, Centre for Future Materials (CFM), School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, QLD 4350, Australia
c
Senior Professor, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Department of Civil Engineering, Patiala, 147004, India
d
Professor, The University of Melbourne, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
e
Professor, University of South Australia, School of Natural and Built Environments, Adelaide, Australia
f
Reader, Imperial College London, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK, Australia
g
Senior Lecturer, University of Southern Queensland, Centre for Future Materials (CFM), School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
h
Professor, University of Southern Queensland, Centre for Future Materials (CFM), School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, QLD 4350, Australia
i
Professor and Executive Director (IAESS), University of Southern Queensland, Centre for Future Materials (CFM), QLD 4350, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The world is moving towards a circular economy that focuses on reducing wastes and keeping materials in use for
Landfill waste the longest time possible. This paper critically reviewed three of the largest volume of landfill waste materials
Waste recycling (tyres, plastics and glass) that are becoming a major concern for many countries. At present, crumb rubbers (from
Circular economy
tyres) and glass sands (from crushed waste glass) are being used in concrete and road constructions while plastics
Global waste generation
Waste in construction
are often used in manufacturing civil structures. However, only 10% tyres, 19.5% plastics and 21% glass are
Future of waste currently recycled globally. The massive volume of remaining unused wastes goes to landfill creating environ­
mental problems. Therefore, finding new strategies of utilising these landfill wastes is vital. The global and
country specific production, recycling and landfilling rates of these waste are summarised to understand the
present situation of global waste crisis. Future strategies for improved waste management, potential investment
and research directions are highlighted. New options for recycling wastes tyres, plastics and glass in construction
are also presented to provide practical and economical solutions to extract maximum value and ensure their
continued use in a closed loop system.

1. Introduction number. An improved waste management system could reduce global

CO2 emissions by up to 15% (World-Counts 2020). Moreover, estimated
The generation of waste has been growing rapidly with the increase costs of the disposal of putrescible waste to landfill range between $45
in population. It is estimated that the global waste generation will be and $105 per tonne of waste in urban areas and between $42 and $102
nearly doubled by 2050 and tripled by 2100 compared to year 2016 per tonne in rural areas in Australia (Collins, 2009).
(Economist 2018, World-Counts 2020). A massive volume of the waste is There are several types of waste which can be recycled to achieve
disposed in landfills and this is creating significant environmental substantial resource savings. As an example, one ton of natural resources
problems such as contamination of soil, water and air and also impacting can be saved from every ton of glass recycled, including sand and soda
human health. It is reported that the world’s solid waste is responsible ash. In other words, one ton of recycled glass saves 0.12 barrels of oil (19
for 5% global carbon emissions and their burning further increases this litres), 42 Kwh of energy, 3.4 kg of air pollutants from being released,

* Corresponding author at: University of Southern Queensland, Centre for Future Materials (CFM), Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (W. Ferdous), [email protected] (A. Manalo), [email protected] (R. Siddique), pamendis@unimelb.
edu.au (P. Mendis), [email protected] (H.S. Wong), [email protected] (W. Lokuge), [email protected] (T. Aravinthan), Peter.
[email protected] (P. Schubel).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105745
Received 12 December 2020; Received in revised form 1 May 2021; Accepted 9 June 2021
0921-3449/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
W. Ferdous et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

and 1.5 cubic meters of landfill space (LBRE 2020). The prevention of
burning 1 ton of waste tyres can save the environment from releasing
450 kg of toxic gases and 270 kg of soot (Rumyantseva et al., 2020). On
average a single passenger car tyre has between 30MJ/kg and 35MJ/kg
of potential energy (Ruwona et al., 2019). In addition, one ton of
recycled plastic saves 16.3 barrels of oil, 5,774 kilowatt-hours of energy,
and 22.9 cubic meters of landfill space (LBRE 2020). Furthermore,
nearly 17 trees and 50% of water can be saved for every ton of paper
recycled (UNEP 2020). Several researchers have investigated the
possible use of crumb rubber (from end-of-life tyres) (Atahan and Yücel,
2012, K.Batayneh et al., 2008, Abdelmonem et al., 2019, Gerges et al.,
2018, Sofi, 2018, Miller and Tehrani, 2017) and glass sand (from waste
glass) (Tamanna et al., 2020, Kim et al., 2018, Tan and Du, 2013, Ali and
Al-Tersawy, 2012) in concrete to evaluate their effect on the static and Fig. 1. Classification and source of solid waste (Rajaratnam and Lamb, 2011)
dynamic properties of concrete. However, the change of material
properties with the increase of waste content obtained by different re­
searchers are inconsistent. To understand the actual effect of the waste
materials on the properties of concrete, it is therefore necessary to
compare the properties in normalised form based on available data. This
paper comprehensively reviewed, analysed and compared results ob­
tained by different researchers on the properties of construction mate­
rials containing different types and percentages of waste.
Waste materials are currently being used for the development of civil
infrastructures (Ferdous et al., 2021). For example, the rubber produced
from end-of-life tyres has been applied in concrete and road construc­
tions as aggregates in asphalt mix (TSA-Road 2019, Li et al., 2016).
Plastic railway sleepers have also attracted significant attention in the
railway industry (Smith, 2020, MuniBajracharya et al., 2014) and also
the plastics are being used in construction industry as insulation mate­
Fig. 2. Breakdown of sources for global generation of solid waste (World-­
rial (Megri et al., 1998). Recycled glass particles have been used in Counts 2020)
architectural concrete and recently applied in road constructions (Her­
ing-International 2013, Phys, 2012, SBS 2020, Cheng, 2020, Pauwels,
major concern from environmental and occupational health and safety
2009). These landfill diverted wastes have shown great promise as
perspectives. Landfill disposal of waste should be considered as the last
construction materials and their future development should be encour­
option for waste management and should be done only for non-
aged. This paper summarised information on the current research,
recyclable waste. Several countries have ended the practice of import­
recent investment and future research directions for reusing these waste
ing and exporting of waste. For example, China has banned the import of
in construction. The novelty of this study is to understand the genera­
several types of waste from early 2018, including plastics (Brooks et al.,
tion, recycling, landfilling and current applications of the most con­
2018). Australia decided to ban the export of waste tyres, plastic, paper
cerning commercial and industrial wastes and also identify their future
and glass from 2021 (Foley, 2020). High landfill levies also incentivise
strategic plan through an extensive state-of-the-art review. The findings
waste recycling. The previous studies reviewed the applications of coal
of this study will help researchers and end users to understand the
fly ash (Yao et al., 2015) and discussed the management of C&D wastes
suitability of transforming waste materials into construction materials.
(Menegaki and Damigos, 2018). Since paper waste is less relevant to
construction materials, emphasis is given to tyres, plastic and glass
2. Generation of waste
waste to understand and overcome the challenges.

Every year, around 11 billion tons of solid waste are generated

3. Utilisation of landfill wastes in construction
worldwide indicating that each person is responsible for producing over
a ton on average and this number is rising. It is estimated that the
3.1. End-of-life tyres
generation of waste will be doubled in 2025 compared to year 2000
(World-Counts 2020). Moreover, this generation is expected to nearly
3.1.1. Waste tyres as a construction material
double in 2050 compared to the year 2016 (Economist 2018). Solid
Globally, it is estimated that approximately 1 billion end-of-life tyres
wastes can be classified into three major categories such as municipal
(around 17 million tons) are generated every year (WBCSD 2010). Waste
solid waste (MSW), commercial and industrial, and construction and
tyres have huge potential in the construction sector but unfortunately
demolition (C&D) waste. The breakdown classifications for global gen­
75% of them are disposed of in landfill. Typically, tyres contain 14%
eration of solid waste is provided in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.
natural rubber, 27% synthetic rubber, 14% high carbon steel wire, 28%
A significant percentage of total waste are disposed of in landfill that
carbon black and 16% fabric, fillers and others (Boustani et al., 2010).
causes major environmental and health problems due to toxins, leachate
These materials can be recycled and reused in construction sectors in
and greenhouse gases (Environment-Victoria 2013). Table 1 summarises
many different forms as shown in Fig. 3. The end-of-life tyres can be
the generation, recycling and landfilling rates of five potential resources
processed into flat rubber and rubber particles (e.g., rubber chips, rub­
such as tyres, plastic, glass, fly ash and construction and demolition
ber crumbs and rubber powder) while steel and nylon wires can also be
(C&D) waste in a global context with a particular focus on USA, Canada,
extracted.
Australia, UK, Germany, Japan, China and India, covering almost 50%
Recent investigations show that the waste tyres can be used in green
of the worlds’ population.
steel production (Sahajwalla, 2020) and in construction sector (Youssf
Table 1 indicates that 75% end-of-life tyres, 55% plastics, 75% glass,
et al., 2020, Yi et al., 2020). Many studies have been conducted on the
47% fly ash and 60% C&D waste of global generation are currently
use of rubber particles as a replacement of sand and aggregates in
disposed of in landfill. These numbers are very high, and they are a

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W. Ferdous et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

Table 1
Fates of waste
Region [Ref] Total Generation of different waste per year (most recent data)

Tyres Plastic Glass Fly ash C&D waste

(numbers) (tons) (tons) (tons) (tons)

Global (Goldstein-research 2020, Mishra, 2016, TMR 2020, Akhtar and Sarmah, 2018, Generation 1 billion 359 130 1.3 3 billion
Osmani, 2011, Cestari, 2020, Harris et al., 2019, Ritchie and Roser, 2018, Harder, 2018, million million billion
Sioneer 2018, Millington, 2019)
Recycling 10% 19.5% 21% 53% 30%
Landfill 75% 55% 75% 47% 60%
USA (Harris et al., 2019, Lallanilla, 2019, EPA 2020, Gursel et al., 2016, EPA 2019, Jambeck Generation 290 million 38 11.4 108 569 million
et al., 2015, EPA 2019) million million million
Recycling 81% 8% 27% 44% 76%
Landfill 16% 75% 60% 56% 24%
Canada (Harris et al., 2019, Takallou, 2015, Canadian-Government 2020) Generation 35 million 3.7 0.75 4.8 3 million
million million million
Recycling 85% 10% 40% 54% 30%
Landfill - 90% 60% - 70%
Australia (Latimer, 2017, Genever et al., 2017, Pickin et al., 2018) Generation 56 million 2.5 1.1 12.3 20.4
million million million million
Recycling 10% 12% 57% 43% 43%
Landfill 63% 87% 43% 57% 33%
UK (Smith, 2020, Cestari, 2020, DEFRA 2015, Ghaffar et al., 2020, AECOM 2018, Carroll, Generation 55 million 5 million 2.4 6 million 100 million
2015, Fisher, 2020) million
Recycling 100% a 29% 45% 70% 49%
Landfill Banned 48% - 30% 51%
Germany (Rumyantseva et al., 2020, AECOM 2018, Tiseo, 2020, Feuerborn et al., 2012, Generation 39 million 15 2.5 9 million 197 million
WirtschaftsWoche 2019, Wecker, 2018, BMU 2018, Pflieger, 2018) million million
Recycling 84% 49% 80% 97% 90%
Landfill 0% 1% - - 10%
Japan (JATMA 2019, Amemiya, 2018, Brasor, 2019, Hays, 2012) Generation 96 million 8 million - 12.3 58 million
million
Recycling 94% 84% 96% 97% 54%
Landfill - - - - 3%
China (Harris et al., 2019, Harder, 2018, AECOM 2018, Stanway, 2019, Huang et al., 2018, Generation 300 million 59 - 565 1.5 billion
Pacheco-Torgal et al., 2012, Halder, 2019) million million
Recycling 10% 22% 20%a 69% 10%
Landfill - - - 31% 75%
India (Mishra, 2016, Jain et al., 2018, CSE, 2014, Somvanshi, 2019, Mhaske et al., 2018, Generation 60 million 5.6 21 197 530 million
Phys.org 2019, A and Shresta, 2015) million million million
Recycling - 60% 45% 61% 10%
Landfill 60% - - 39% 70%
a
Estimated [Harder (Harder, 2018) estimated the recycling rate for glass waste is still below 20% in China.]

Fig 3. Materials extracted from end-of-life tyres [Photos in the top row are taken from (Valente and Sibai, 2019)]

concrete (Mohajerani et al., 2020, Jie et al., 2020, Siddique and Naik, alternative solution to address the problem of limited resources for
2004). This approach of using waste tyres in concrete is not only natural sand. The inclusion of rubber particles can influence the
beneficial from an environmental perspectives, but also provides an behaviour of concrete due to their unique properties. Fig. 4 summarises

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W. Ferdous et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

the research findings from several sources on the properties of fresh and
hardened concrete containing various percentages of crumb rubber.
The incorporation of rubber particles in concrete mix can degrade
physical (slump, viscosity and density) and mechanical (modulus of
elasticity, compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural strength)
properties but improve thermal (increase thermal insulation by reducing
thermal conductivity) and dynamic properties (impact energy, sound
absorption, electrical resistivity and cracking resistance) of concrete as
can be seen from Fig. 4. The workability (slump value) and viscosity are
correlated and the increase of rubber content reduces the flowability of
concrete due to their internal friction. Rubber particles reduce the
density of concrete as they are lighter than natural aggregates. However,
the lower density of concrete may not necessarily be a negative trait
particularly when lightweight structures are desirable. The addition of
rubber particles reduced the modulus of elasticity, compressive strength,
tensile strength and flexural strength due to their lower load carrying
capacity than natural aggregates and weak bonding with the cement
paste. Gupta et al. (Gupta et al., 2014) microscopically observed the
interface between rubber particles and surrounding cement paste and
found a weak bonding between them (Fig. 5) that led to the lower me­
chanical properties. The thermal conductivity of the concrete can
decrease with the increase of rubber content. The lower thermal con­
ductivity of concrete is better for buildings in cold regions as it conducts
less heat energy and keeps the building warm. However, the high
thermal conductivity of concrete is desirable for structures that do not
need thermal insulation such as bridges where thermal stresses may
develop due to the variation of temperature between top and bottom
surfaces (Xu and Chung, 2000). Crumb rubber is a great material to
improve impact resistance and damping properties of concrete (Liu
et al., 2020) due to their high shock absorption ability as shown in Fig. 6.
Rubber can also absorb sound or reduce noise due to their effective
acoustic properties (capability of absorbing vibration or in other words
sound). The electrical and cracking resistance can also improve due to
their low electrical conductivity and low elastic modulus, respectively.

3.1.2. Applications of end-of-life tyres in construction sectors

The demand for crumb rubber in pavement construction and main­
tenance (Fig. 7a) is increasing because of the additional elasticity the
rubber brought to the binder and improved safety aspects related to skid
resistance along with well-known benefits of resource recovery and
recycling used tyres. To promote their wider application in pavements,
the primary focus should address their current challenges of high initial
cost, lack of training for stakeholders and lack of information regarding
performance and properties of crumb rubber modified asphalt mixes
(Presti, 2013). End-of-life tyres have been used for constructing soil
retaining walls (Fig. 7b) where the tyres are filled with soils or crushed
rocks. This type of wall system has excellent drainage and superior
stability compared to conventional wall system in unstable soil condi­
tions (Hazarika and Fukumoto, 2016). Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA)
has developed a high-performance composite panel system (Fig. 7c)
using waste tyres sandwiched between highly stable precast concrete
skins. This modular wall system can be used for sound barriers, retaining
walls, cyclone shelters, sea and blast walls, and even race track impact
barriers (TSA 2018). Greenrail developed a sustainable and eco-friendly
railway sleeper (Fig. 7d) made of recycled plastic and rubber collected
from end-of-life tyres with a mixing ratio of 1:1 by weight. The rubber
roofing system (Fig. 7e) made of used tyres developed by Euroshield are
claimed to be more hail resistant than traditional roof tiles (Euroshield
2020). The end-of-life tyres can also be are converted into woven tyre
Fig. 4. Effect of crumb rubber on the properties of concrete tread mats that is slip resistant and can be used in mud roads (Fig. 7f)
Ozbay et al., 2011, Reda Taha et al., 2008, Yousefi Kebria et al., 2015, Kim and
(Redneckengineering, 2020). Beside these applications, the crumb rub­
Lee, 2015, Thodesen et al., 2009, Ziari et al., 2016, Khaloo et al., 2008,
ber is widely used in concrete to replace aggregates. It can be expected
Al-Tayeb et al., 2012, Mohammed et al., 2012, Sukontasukkul, 2009, Al-Tayeb
et al., 2013, Khalil et al., 2015, Issa and Salem, 2013, Huang et al., 2013,
that the application of end-of-life tyres will further increase in con­
Greenrail-Group, 2012, Park et al., 2004, Wang, 2009, Limbachiya, 2009. struction and this will help minimise environmental burdens.

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W. Ferdous et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

Fig. 5. Weak bonding between rubber and cement paste in concrete (Gupta et al., 2014)

Fig. 6. Crumb rubber can improve impact resistance of concrete (Liu et al., 2015)

3.2. Plastic waste concrete. This review summarised that the incorporation of plastics as
aggregates in concrete has negative impact on workability, density,
3.2.1. Plastic types and management compressive strength, elastic modulus, splitting tensile strength, flexural
Plastics are widely used in many applications due to their unique strength, shrinkage, water absorption, porosity, chloride ion penetration
combination of light-weight, high-durability and other inherent prop­ and carbonation depth but improved ductility. However, when plastic
erties. The global production of plastics ramped up from 180 million fibres were used, it did not show any negative effect on density due to
tons in 2000 to 360 million tons in 2020 (doubling in the last 20 years). their small volume percentage and also improved compressive, splitting
Asia is the largest producer of plastics (51% of the total) followed by tensile, flexural strengths and shrinkage properties. Since the use of
Europe (16%), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, i.e., recycled plastics in concrete have been extensively reviewed, this study
Canada, Mexico, and the United States) zone (19%), Middle-East, Africa therefore focused on the best management options of waste plastics.
(7%), Latin America (4%) and the Commonwealth of Independent States There is a debate on whether waste plastics should be recycled, burnt
(CIS, i.e., Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, or disposed in landfill (Roussinos, 2020, Cestari, 2020). Depending on
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the health, economic and environmental issues the opinions differ. The
Ukraine) (3%) (Plastics-Europe 2020). The major types of plastics are best approach for treating waste plastics can be assessed by their Global
polypropylene (PP), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl chlo­ Warming Potential (GWP) and Total Energy Use (TEU). Over the last 20
ride (PVC), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene tere­ years, several studies have analysed the management of plastic waste
phthalate (PET or PETE) and polystyrene (PS) (Awoyera and Adesina, from a life cycle perspective. Table 3 summarises the findings of these
2020). The global production, properties, recyclability and current ap­ studies and compares the results among Recycling (R), Incineration (I)
plications of the common plastics are summarised in Table 2. and Landfill (L) of waste plastics based on their impact. The results are
Researchers studied used waste plastics in concrete as plastic ag­ presented from lowest to highest impact, e.g. R<L<I, indicating that the
gregates (to replace natural aggregates) and plastic fibres (as rein­ best practice (i.e. lowest negative impact) of managing waste plastics is
forcement in fibre reinforced concrete). Siddique et al. (Siddique et al., recycling followed by landfill and incineration.
2008) reviewed the effect of recycled plastic content on the properties of Almost all studies in Table 3 indicated that recycling has the lowest
concrete. This study reviewed the effect of plastic content on the prop­ GWP and TEU and can be considered as the preferred choice for man­
erties of concrete. Findings suggested that the fresh and hardened aging waste plastics from global warming and energy utilisation per­
properties of concrete can be affected negatively by the incorporation of spectives. However, there are several aspects that need to be considered
plastic aggregates. However, they are useful in repair of damaged con­ carefully before recycling waste plastics. While each ton of recycled
crete, precast concrete, transportation related components (e.g., bridge plastic prevents the production of the same amount of new plastic, the
panels, median barriers, and railway sleepers) and marine construction quality of the recycled plastic product and its economic value is often
applications. Recently, Gu and Ozbakkaloglu (Gu and Ozbakkaloglu, questionable. On the other hand, plastics can be recycled only once or
2016) provided a comprehensive review of using recycled plastics in twice without significant loss the purity meaning that recycling is not

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W. Ferdous et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

Fig. 7. Current application of end-of-life tyres in civil constructions

Table 2
Current global application of different plastics
Plastic types % of total (Plastics-Europe, 2016) Properties Recycling Use Ref.
a
PP 26.8% Semi-rigid Yes (Fiona 2018)
b
LDPE 20.3% Flexible and easily torn Reuse (Hahladakis et al., 2018)
c
PVC 18.3% Fragile plastic Rare (Cao, 2010)
d
HDPE 17.9% Thick touch plastic Yes (Eriksen et al., 2019)
e
PET or PETE 8.6% Tough plastic Yes (Fan et al., 2014)
f
PS and others 8.1% Rigid or foamed Generally not (Hahladakis and Iacovidou, 2018)
a
Medicine and ketchup bottles, yogurt cups, kitchenware, etc.
b
Plastic bags, cling film, plastic wrapping
c
Food wrap, shower curtains, oil bottles, plumbing pipes, inflammable mattresses, etc.
d
Milk jars, juice and detergent bottles, butter tubs, toiletries containers
e
Food and drinks containers
f
Yoghurt containers, CD cases, parcel packaging, takeaway materials, disposable cups

the ultimate solution for managing waste plastics as it will be disposed in economic perspective. The oil price dominates the economic choice
landfill or incinerated at the very end of its life. Recycling is the best between recycling and production of new plastics, which means it is
option from an environmental point of view but not necessarily from an cheaper to produce new plastics than to recycle if oil prices are low

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W. Ferdous et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

Table 3 transportation cost (Williams, 2018). Crushed glass is being used in

Best practice of managing plastics: Recycling (R), Landfill (L) and Incineration concrete to replace natural coarse and fine aggregates (Mohajerani et al.,
(I) 2017). Moreover, glass powder is a natural pozzolan that can improve
Year of Materials/ GWP TEU Ref. the properties of concrete (Abdelli et al., 2020). Examples glass particles
study application are shown in Fig. 9.
2019 PET and PEa R<L<I - (Aryan et al., 2019) Several researchers have investigated the use of glass particles for
2018 Plastic filmsa R<L<I - (Hou et al., 2018) partial replacement of aggregates (Rashad, 2014, Taha and Nounu,
2013 PET R<L<I R<L<I (Foolmaun and 2008, Hajimohammadi et al., 2018) and cement (Taha and Nounu,
Ramjeeawon, 2013)
2008, Islam et al., 2017, Kashani et al., 2019) in concrete. The effect of
2012 Plasticsa R<L<I R<I<L (Al-Maaded et al., 2012)
2010 PETa R<I - (Chilton et al., 2010) glass aggregates on major properties of concrete are presented in Fig. 10.
2009 Non-recyclable I<L - (Eriksson and The replacement of natural aggregates by waste glass slightly increases
plastica Finnveden, 2009) the air content of fresh concrete (Fig. 10a). This is due to the sharper
2008 Plasticsa R<L<I R<I<L (Shonfield, 2008) edge and higher aspect ratio of glass sand compared to natural sand that
Plasticsb I<L<R - (Shonfield, 2008)
2008 Plastics (PE, PS and R<I - (Dodbiba et al., 2008)
is capable of retaining more air on the surface of the glass particles.
PVC) a Some researchers have observed an increase in slump value with in­
2006 HDPE, LDPE and R<L<I R<I<L (EPA 2006) crease in glass content while others have noticed the opposite trend
PETa (Fig. 10b) (Tamanna et al., 2020, Kim et al., 2018, Tan and Du, 2013, Ali
2005 PE, PP, PS, and PETa R<I<L R<I<L (Eriksson et al., 2005)
and Al-Tersawy, 2012). The effect on slump is dependent on the density
2005 PE and PET liquid R<L<I R<I<L (Perugini et al., 2005)
containersa of the waste glass. Glass with lower density than natural sand has a
2005 PVCa R≈I<L R<I<L (Finnveden et al., 2005) tendency to reduce slump while high-density glass increases slump.
PE, PP, PS, PET and I<L<R I<R<L (Finnveden et al., 2005) Similarly, the density of the concrete will reduce with increased glass
PVCb content (Fig. 10c) if the density of the glass is lower than natural sand.
2004 Plastic packaginga R<I - (Beigl and Salhofer,
Previous investigators (Tamanna et al., 2020, Kim et al., 2018, Tan and
2004)
2004 Plasticsa R≈I - (Wenisch et al., 2004) Du, 2013, Ali and Al-Tersawy, 2012) have also found that increasing
2003 PE and PET liquid R<L<I R<I<L (Arena et al., 2003) glass content slightly reduces the compressive strength (Fig. 10d),
containersa flexural strength (Fig. 10e) and splitting tensile strength (Fig. 10f) of
2001 PET, HDPE and R<L R<L (Grant et al., 2001)
concrete. The small reduction of strength can be attributed to the sharp
PVCa
2001 Plastic packagingb R<L<I R<I<L (Wollny et al., 2001) edge and smooth surface of glass particles that create a weaker bond
a
between glass particles and cement paste. A general trend of a slight
avoided virgin material; b: avoided material other than virgin polymer reduction in modulus of elasticity with increased waste glass has been
observed (Fig. 10g). Although the elastic modulus of glass is slightly
(Plastic-expert 2021). Nevertheless, recycling in general is the best of higher than natural sand (Yang et al., 1995), the weak bond between
the three choices. glass and cement paste dominates the elastic behaviour of concrete. In
contrast to mechanical properties, waste glass has a potential positive
3.2.2. Applications of waste plastic in construction sectors impact on durability (Rajabipour et al., 2010) by decreasing chloride
Waste plastics need to be reduced, re-used and recycled to support penetration depth (Fig. 10h). The possible reason could be the improved
sustainable development. Besides concrete (Siddique et al., 2008), waste distribution of particle size for crushed glass compared to natural sand
plastics are used in manufacturing railway sleepers, benches, decks, that results in better compaction and less permeable concretes. The
fencing, sheeting, garden products, footpaths, components for bridges, energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) analysis of recycled waste glass show that
pipes and jetties (MuniBajracharya et al., 2014). Some applications are the glass particle contains Si, Na, Mg, Al, Ca, K, S, and C and therefore
shown in Fig. 8. These products are resistant to termites, moisture and the possibility of alkali-silica reaction is high (Lu and Poon, 2018) as
microorganisms. Recycled plastic products are not only beneficial for shown in Figs. 10i and 10j. The possibility of alkali-silica reaction is high
the environments but also offers economic solutions to replace tradi­ when quartz glass aggregates are used in concrete (Liu et al., 2019).
tional natural materials such as timber.
3.3.2. Applications of glass waste in construction sectors
3.3. Waste glass Glass waste is most commonly used in concrete to replace aggregates
especially in areas facing a shortage of good quality natural aggregates.
3.3.1. Waste glass as a construction material For example, scarcity of locally produced aggregates in South Auckland
Globally, 130 million tons of glass waste are generated every year motivated the use of waste glass in concrete for new building structures
while only 21% are recycled. This number is relatively low considering (Fig. 11a) (Pauwels, 2009). Recycled glass has also been applied on
the fact that glass is 100% recyclable particularly bottles and jars and façade elements to improve architectural aspects (Fig. 11b). Another
can be recycled indefinitely (however, crystal glass, light bulbs, mirrors, interesting area where recycled glass was successfully utilised from 20%
microwave turntables and ovenware are not recyclable). The nature of to 100% (depending on vehicular loads and service life) is the con­
the unlimited number of times that glass can be recycled means that it is struction of porous pavements (Fig. 11c) (SBS 2020). The extremely
less harmful to the environment when compared with plastic waste and porous pavement system (void space of 39-47%) can reduce the possi­
papers. Generally, plastics and papers lose their purity after 7-9 times bility of clogging and minimise maintenance cost. Moreover, this type of
and 4-6 times of recycling respectively, due to the fibres being shortened pavement can decrease the urban heat island effect through increased
after each recycling (Nationwidewaste 2019). The main ingredients of reflectivity due to the presence of glass. Very recently, recycled glass has
glass are sand, soda ash and limestone. It is worth mentioning that one been used in road constructions (Fig. 11d) where the asphalt mix in­
ton of natural resources can be saved from every ton of glass recycled, corporates crushed glass to replace sand (Cheng, 2020). However, the
including sand and soda ash. However, glass is frequently becoming clean recycled glass in this application requires a high heat process.
contaminated and the broken glass is not only a safety hazard to workers It is obvious that waste glass could be a good alternative to replace
but it can also damage the recycling facilities and increased the pro­ natural sands in concrete. The optimal replacement level of natural sand
cessing cost. The broken glass is difficult to sort by colours which is by the glass sand is found to be 45% (Dumitru and Song, 2010). How­
important as the melting temperatures are different for different colours. ever, as mentioned before there are a few challenges of using waste glass
In addition, the heavy weight of glass can also increase the as construction material such as contamination of broken glass before

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W. Ferdous et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

Fig. 8. Different applications of waste plastics (Lankhorst 2016, Replas 2020, Infrastructure 2019)

Fig. 9. Glass waste converted into construction materials (part of the photo is taken from (Olumoyewa and Obanishola, 2018))

collection, possibility of damaging recycling facilities by the broken sectors.

glass, difficulty in sorting glass by its colour (melting temperature is
dependent on colour), their heavy weight (expensive to transport) and
particularly the possibility of alkali-silica reactions when using glass in
concrete (Williams, 2018). Overcoming these challenges will further
enhance the opportunity of using these waste resources in construction

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4. The future of waste

4.1. Circular economy

A circular economy is an economic system that values resources by

keeping materials in use for as long as possible, while reducing the
generation of waste. This is in contrast with a linear economy that is
based on ‘take, make and dispose’ model. Moving to a circular economy
not only provide long-term environmental, social and economic benefits
but also preserves natural resources and generates new jobs. It is esti­
mated that every 10,000 tons of waste recycling will create 9.2 jobs
while this number is only 2.8 for landfill disposal (EPA 2018). In
Australia, around 10,000 new jobs are expected to be created through a
$600 million waste recycling fund recently announced by government
and industry (Foley, 2020). In the EU, it has also been estimated that a
circular economy will save €600 billion, reduce 450 million tons of
carbon emissions and create 580,000 jobs by 2030 (European-­
Commission 2018). The recycling industry is expected to generate 40
million new jobs in China by 2030 (Halder, 2019). The proper man­
agement, recycling and reuse of waste combined with responsible
manufacturing will help reduce the amount of waste tyres, plastics and
glass going into landfill.

4.2. Future strategic plan for landfill waste

Since waste affects human health and the environment, their man­
agement is becoming a universal issue to achieve the sustainable
development goals. The production of 11 billion tons of solid waste per
year worldwide needs urgent attention and strategic decisions by policy
makers. The good news is that government organisations are moving
forward and taking necessary steps to better manage waste resources.
Table 4 summarises some of these strategic initiatives and their target
completion timeline.
Table 4 indicates that waste recycling would be an unavoidable
sector in the next 30 years. While some developed countries are already
taking initiatives to minimise waste generation, the developing coun­
tries are still in the planning stage. The opportunity of waste recycling
could be affected by the high labour cost in some specific countries like
Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Government organisations and in­
dustry bodies in different countries are allocating research funds to
determine the best approaches for managing waste resources. For
example, the Australian Federal Government announced $20 million
research grants for nine Cooperative Research Centre Projects (CRC-P)
in February 2020 for reducing plastic waste and boosting plastic recy­
cling (ATSE 2020). Through these activities, it is expected that the waste
recycling rates will be increased and landfilling rates will be reduced in
the near future.

4.3. Future investment in waste recycling

The World Bank has a record of investing funds for waste manage­
ment infrastructure around the world. They have already invested more
than $4.7 billion over 340 waste management programs in the last 20
years. Investing money in this sector has concrete and measurable out­
comes. For example, the waste recycling rate increased by 25% in
Azerbaijan when the World Bank supported loans for their waste man­
agement (Ellis, 2018). Australia is moving towards a circular economy
due to the restrictions on exporting waste overseas. Very recently in
2020, the Australian government announced $190 million investments
Fig. 10. Effect of glass waste on the properties of concrete (Almesfer and
along with $600 million in private investments that will bring a total
Ingham, 2014)
plan to approximately $1 billion funds to transform the waste and
Ozbay et al., 2011, Reda Taha et al., 2008, Yousefi Kebria et al., 2015, Kim and
Lee, 2015, Thodesen et al., 2009, Ziari et al., 2016, Khaloo et al., 2008,
recycling industry (DAWE 2020). Recently, the European Commission
Al-Tayeb et al., 2012, Mohammed et al., 2012, Sukontasukkul, 2009, Al-Tayeb invested almost €1 billion in the Horizon 2020 project to achieve a target
et al., 2013, Khalil et al., 2015, Issa and Salem, 2013, Huang et al., 2013, of reusing and recycling of waste between 60-75% and to limit landfill
Greenrail-Group, 2012, Park et al., 2004, Wang, 2009, Limbachiya, 2009. rates within 10% (Cole, 2017). The investments and loans in waste
management sectors not only formalise the management system but also

9
W. Ferdous et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

Fig. 11. Use of glass waste in construction sector (photos taken from (Hering-International 2013, Phys, 2012, SBS 2020, Cheng, 2020, Pauwels, 2009))

contribute to the local economy and make the informal waste pickers
Table 4
and recyclers healthier and safer in the workplace. This initiative sug­
Strategic decisions and future plans for waste management
gest that it is the time to rethink and replace the terminology “waste
Year Region Future plans References management” by “sustainable materials management”.
2021 Australia Exporting waste tyres and (Pickin et al., 2018,
glass will be banned Foley, 2020)
2022 Australia Exporting unprocessed (Foley, 2020)
polymer plastics will be
4.4. Future research opportunities
banned
2022 India Gradual stopping of single-use (Phys.org 2019) There are many research opportunities for successfully converting
plastics such as bags waste into construction materials. The current trend of research mainly
2024 Australia Exporting paper and (Foley, 2020)
focuses on their applications in concrete and asphalt. However, several
cardboard will be banned
2024 Australia Exporting all waste will be (DAWE 2020) aspects need to be answered before their widespread applications as
banned construction materials. Some of these are highlighted here:
2025 Australia Targeted possible closure of (TREMS 2020)
landfills • End-of-life tyres: Rubber has shown promising results in improving
2030 Australia Targeted to achieve a national (AWE 2020)
dynamic properties of concrete. However, rubber is susceptible to
resource recovery of 80%
2030 China Recycling industry could be (Halder, 2019) softening at high temperatures and it remains unclear how rub­
worth more than $1 trillion berised concrete will behave under fire conditions. This is an
2030 Global Generation of scrap tyres is (Pacheco-Torgal et al., important area as there are several incidents recorded previously on
estimated to reach 1.2 billion 2012, Mohammed et al.,
fires in concrete structures. Moreover, the addition of rubber in
2017)
2030 Europe Targeted to reuse and (Plastics-Europe 2020) concrete reduces flow-ability and strength and further research is
recycling plastic packaging by needed to overcome these challenges.
60% • Plastics: Debate is still going on whether plastics should be recycled
2040 Europe Targeted to reuse and (Plastics-Europe 2020) or burnt. There is an opportunity to address this research question. A
recycling plastic packaging by
life cycle assessment on recycling and burning of plastics helps to
100%
2050 Global If present trends continue, (Parker, 2018, Ellis, resolve this. The outcome will help decision makers to develop best
waste generation could 2018) policies for managing plastic waste.
increase 70% and 12 billion • Glass: Concrete containing glass aggregates are vulnerable to alkali-
metric tons of plastic can go to
silica reaction. The reaction between alkali in cement and the silica
landfills
2050 Middle East Waste generation is expected (Worldbank 2018)
in glass creates a gel that swells and causes cracking when exposed to
and Africa to double in Middle East and moisture. An in-depth research is required to understand the risks
North Africa and to develop mitigating strategies to prevent alkali-silica reaction
2050 Africa and Waste generation is expected (Worldbank 2018) in concrete containing glass waste. The effect of waste glass on the
South Asia to triple in Sub-Saharan Africa
efflorescence, drying shrinkage and carbonation of alkali activated
and South Asia
cement material need to be investigated. Moreover, the brittleness,

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W. Ferdous et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 173 (2021) 105745

low impact resistance and high heat absorption of glass may degrade Declaration of Competing Interest
the product quality which needs to be addressed.
None.
Most of the previous research have focused on the application of
wastes to determine short-term properties. The long-term behaviour and Acknowledgement
the environmental consequences are not well understood. Alkali-
activated cement industry as an alternative construction method to The first author gratefully acknowledge financial support from the
promote extensive use of tyres, plastics, and waste glass showing po­ Capacity Building Grant (Project number - 1007576) at the University of
tential research opportunities. Moreover, not much research has been Southern Queensland.
carried out on the behaviour of full-scale structures made of certain
percentage of waste materials. In addition, the potential application of References
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