The Potential of Waste and Recycled Materials for Application in Concrete Industry of Serbia

Abstract

The idea of sustainable development in engineering practice is not a new one, but it has become one of the most important topics of the 21st century. Concrete industry, as the producer of the leading global construction material, together with the manufacturers of cement and other component materials (aggregates, mineral and chemical additions), have a huge impact on our environment and everyday life. On the one hand, non-renewable resources are primarily exploited in this field, while on the other hand enormous quantities of different waste materials are generated. This represents a big challenge for the academic community, as well as for the concrete industry. The possibilities for application of different waste and recycled materials as mineral additions (fly ash, steel slag, copper flotation tailings, neutral) or as aggregates (recycled concrete, shredded rubber, CRT glass, copper slag) for concrete production in Serbia are analyzed and discussed.