Recycled aggregate as structural material

The amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste has increased considerably over the last few years. The high cost of landfill, the scarcity of natural resources coupled with the augmentation in aggregate requirement for construction, has attracted the demand and interest in aggregates from non-traditional sources. In particular, there is an increased interest from the construction industry concerning the use of recycled aggregates (RA) to replace aggregates from natural sources such as from recycled C&D wastes. Low-grade applications, including sub-base and roadwork, have been implemented in many countries; however, higher-grade activities are rarely considered. This research examines whether the use of RA in concrete production is appropriate. The utilization of RA in concrete opens a whole new range of possibilities in the reuse of materials in the building industry. In the context of this research, several aggregates’ properties, which affect concrete’s production, were tested using international standards. Thereafter, in order to determine whether the RA are suitable for use in the production of concrete, the results where compared with the requirements of the Greek standard ELOT 401—the Greek regulation of concrete technology (1997) and the European standard EN12620. The tests’ results, led us to the conclusion that fine RA should not be used due to their low quality, while coarse RA are not excluded from concrete production.