Results of a new five-year study of recycled concrete show that it performs as well, and in several cases even better, than conventional concrete.
Results of a new five-year study of recycled concrete show that it performs as well, and in several cases even better, than conventional concrete.
Researchers at UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering conducted side-by-side comparisons of recycled and conventional concrete within two common applications—a building foundation and a municipal sidewalk. They found that the recycled concrete had comparable strength and durability after five years of being in service.
“We live in a world where we are constantly in search of sustainable solutions that remove waste from our landfills,” says Shahria Alam, co-director of UBC’s Green Construction Research and Training Centre and the lead investigator of the study. “A number of countries around the world have already standardized the use of recycled concrete in structural applications, and we hope our findings will help Canada follow suit.”
Waste materials from construction and demolition contribute up to 40 per cent of the world’s waste, according to Alam, and in Canada, that waste amounts to nine million tonnes per year.
Read more at University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus
Image: Shahria Alam, co-director of UBC's Green Construction Research and Training Centre and the lead investigator of the study. (Credit: UBC Okanagan)
