IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i12p5248-d1673473.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of the Efficiency of Mechanical Grinding and Calcination Processes for Construction and Demolition Waste as Binder Replacement in Cement Pastes: Mechanical Properties Evaluation

Author

Listed:
  • Sandra Cunha

    (Centre for Territory Environment and Construction (CTAC), Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal)

  • Kubilay Kaptan

    (Centre for Territory Environment and Construction (CTAC), Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal)

  • Erwan Hardy

    (Département Genie Civil, Polytech Nantes, Gavy Océanis BP 152, 44603 Saint-Nazaire, CEDEX, France)

  • José Aguiar

    (Centre for Territory Environment and Construction (CTAC), Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal)

Abstract

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is a key priority in the European Union, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Construction has a key role to play in this effort, as it is responsible for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, especially due to cement production. At the same time, waste reuse emerges as a key strategy within the circular economy, another pillar of European policies. By valuing byproducts and waste, such as construction and demolition waste (CDW), it is possible to reduce the extraction of natural resources, amount of waste sent to landfills, and emissions associated with the production of new materials. This study, with the main objective of evaluating the possibility of using CDW as supplementary cementitious materials, emerges as a possible solution to reduce these problems. Two CDW treatment methods were used: (i) mechanical grinding and (ii) calcination. The mechanical grinding method, even with the use of laboratory equipment, has shown that it is possible to obtain CDW particles with characteristics suitable for replacing cement. For the calcination process, temperatures between 600 °C and 800 °C were the most suitable. The results proved that the replacement of cement by CDW in pastes resulted in suitable behavior for the construction industry, having revealed an incorporation content of up to 25% CDW, a compressive strength and strength activity index higher than that found for pastes developed with fly ash. Regarding the calcination process, this revealed an improvement in the compressive strength of the developed pastes, resulting in an increase in strength activity index of between 7 and 10%.

Suggested Citation

  • Sandra Cunha & Kubilay Kaptan & Erwan Hardy & José Aguiar, 2025. "Assessment of the Efficiency of Mechanical Grinding and Calcination Processes for Construction and Demolition Waste as Binder Replacement in Cement Pastes: Mechanical Properties Evaluation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-23, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:12:p:5248-:d:1673473
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/12/5248/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/12/5248/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kubilay Kaptan & Sandra Cunha & José Aguiar, 2024. "A Review: Construction and Demolition Waste as a Novel Source for CO 2 Reduction in Portland Cement Production for Concrete," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-50, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kasaeian, Alibakhsh & Afshari, Fatemeh & Mahmoudkhani, Mahdi & Masoumi, Amirali & Esmaeili Bidhendi, Mehdi, 2025. "Waste heat recovery by thermodynamic cycles in cement plants: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:12:p:5248-:d:1673473. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.