Synergetic recycling of waste glass and recycled aggregates in cement mortars: Physical, durability and microstructure performance

The generation of large quantities of waste glass and construction waste has increasingly become an environmental burden in city governments. This study investigated the joint utilization of recycled glass cullet (RGC) and recycled fine aggregates (RFA) in cement mortars. The mechanical, durability and microstructure properties of the cement mortars were evaluated. The experimental results showed that the synergetic reuse of RGC and RFA in cement mortars was feasible both from mechanical and durability points of view. The replacement of RGC by RFA was beneficial to enhancing the compressive strength of cement mortars due to the improvement of the interfacial transition zone and microhardness of the paste matrix, and the refinement of the pore structures. Encouragingly, the combined use of RGC and RFA in cement mortars could exhibit low drying shrinkage and alkali-silica reaction expansion. In particular, the acid resistance of the cement mortars was improved effectively when the RGC was used in conjunction with RFA as 100% fine aggregates in the mortars.