Sustainability assessment of recycled aggregate concrete structures: A critical view on the current state-of-knowledge and practice

Abstract

The environmental impacts of activities such as raw material extraction, construction of infrastructure, and demolition, place construction as one of the sectors that exert the highest pressures on the environment, society, and economy. Some of the major environmental impacts for which the construction industry is responsible are mineral resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste generation. Among the different strategies that exist to decrease such impacts, recycling demolition waste into recycled concrete aggregates has been considered a promising alternative. As such, at present, the literature dealing with the impact assessment of recycled aggregate concrete structures is very extensive. Therefore, the objective of this article is to present a critical view of the state-of-the-art in terms of sustainability assessment of recycled aggregate concrete structures, taking a holistic perspective by considering environmental, social, and economic impacts.