Sustainability is now commonly referred to in the construction sector, zero-waste scenarios are frequently floated, a great deal of research has been undertaken in the use of recycled and secondary materials (RSM), and standards and codes of practice are becoming more sympathetic to their adoption. However, a clear view of the potential for RSM use and how this may affect the performance of structures still remains to be established. This is important and needed to absorb RSM within the present hierarchy of construction materials.

The use of RSM requires a clear understanding of their characteristics and potential for required applications. This can be problematic as the variability of the material can be high, though this is not unusual, as well-established materials, such as Portland cement and naturally occurring sand and gravel and crushed-rock aggregates, are also known for their high variations at individual plants and even more so between plants. Material processing and design procedures can help to minimise variability. Why, then, is the construction industry slow in adopting the use of the new breed of materials arising from wastes, such as copper slag from material extraction processes, sewage sludge ash and municipal incinerated bottom ash from the incineration of sewage and municipal solid wastes, glass cullet from used and industrial waste and recycled aggregate arising from demolition and excavation wastes? It can be argued that the inertia in accepting the use of RSM is due to two main reasons: research has not come together to exploit the present knowledge of RSM and their potential use and, second, a robust case for the value-added use of RSM has not yet been made.

This book, as part of a series of five, brings together information from global research studies, published in English, dealing with municipal incinerated bottom ash production and its characteristics and potential for use as a cement component and aggregate in concrete, geotechnical and road pavement applications, including the related case studies, standards and environmental impacts. The data analysed and evaluated for this book were sourced globally from 636 publications contributed by 1381 authors, from 487 institutions in 43 countries, over the time period from 1973 to 2017.

The main purpose of the book, which is aimed at academics, researchers, design engineers, specifiers and contractors and is structured in an incisive and easy-to-follow manner, is to bring out what is known and can be considered for use, and at the same time avoid unnecessary repetitive research and wasting of resources.

Sustainable Construction Materials

• Provides an extensive source of valuable database information, supported by an exhaustive list of globally-based published literature over the last 40-50 years
• Offer an analysis, evaluation, repackaging and modeling of existing knowledge on sustainable construction practices
• Provides a wealth of knowledge for use in many sectors relating to the construction profession

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