What Is Recycled Concrete Used For?

If you have never considered using recycled concrete at your worksite, you could be missing out. Recycled concrete has numerous economic and environmental benefits, and can be used in many commercial, industrial and residential applications.

What Is Recycled Concrete?

Recycled concrete refers to an aggregate manufactured using concrete from demolished roadways, sidewalks and structures. Recycled aggregate is used as an alternative to sending used, non-biodegradable concrete to landfills.

Why Use Recycled Concrete?

The primary advantages of using recycled concrete are environmental and economical.

The Economic Advantages of Recycled Concrete

When you use recycled concrete aggregate, you save the money it would take to transport and process all-new material. These savings drastically increase if you utilize recycled concrete to repair or rebuild the same place it has been demolished. In comparison to virgin concrete, recycled concrete has a higher yield and is more lightweight, resulting in less expenditure on materials and building.

When you choose recycled aggregate, you also save yourself the cost and potential headache of meeting proper concrete disposal regulations and locating a concrete disposal facility. On a larger scale, the process of recycling concrete can generate several new jobs, which puts money back into your local economy.

The Environmental Advantages of Recycled Concrete

 

 

When concrete is not recycled or reused, it is sent to a landfill. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) reports that significant amounts of construction and demolition materials are generated annually, with the country’s total amount reaching 36 million tonnes in 2020. Concrete is durable because it is nonbiodegradable, meaning that waste will remain in a landfill indefinitely. ECCC emphasizes that reusing and recycling waste is key to lowering its environmental impact. Reducing the need to transport and process new materials also minimizes energy waste and dangerous gas emissions.

Finally, the concrete recycling process can also incorporate and use other environmentally friendly construction materials and practices, including the use of old tires, scrap materials and organic waste as fuel for cement processing.

The Concrete Recycling Process

One might think that because recycled aggregate is so beneficial to the environment, site managers and builders that it would be challenging to produce — but the process of recycling concrete is actually straightforward.

1. 1. 1. Harvesting: First, concrete rubble is harvested from demolished foundations, airport runways, highways, interstates, roads, gutters, curbs, sidewalks, buildings and more. After the rubble is harvested, the rest of the process is either completed at a concrete recycling facility, off-site or on-site.
      2. Crushing: After harvesting the concrete, it is crushed using one of several crushing methods. Popular methods for crushing include stationary, mobile or portable jaw crushers, impact crushers or cone crushers. Jaw crushers and impact crushers can both be used for initial crushing. Sometimes, an additional crushing process — usually done with a cone crusher — is required to further size the rubble.
      3. Screening: Because concrete aggregate is often mixed with other materials — like dirt, plastic, clay, asphalt pavement, metal and wood chips — it requires screening through scalping and deck screeners to be separated from those materials. Recycled concrete is often screened several times, depending on how the final product will be used and the source of the concrete.
      4. Cleaning: The final step in the concrete recycling process is cleaning. Before you can recycle concrete for new use, you should remove any remaining residue, which can be done through magnetic separation, hand-picking or using air or water separators.

What Can Recycled Concrete Be Used For?

Crushed concrete is used for a variety of commercial and residential projects, including almost any building project that calls for concrete, concrete asphalt or aggregate. Some industrial, commercial and residential recycled concrete uses include:

• Landscaping: You can use recycled concrete for commercial and residential landscaping projects, such as in the construction of garden beds, raised flower and retaining walls. You can also use it to construct yard drainage systems or as decorative gravel.
• Construction: Use recycled aggregate or gravel made from recycled concrete as a sub-base material for driveways, parking lots and foundations, as well as for engineered embankments and structural fill. You can also use it to construct houses that are durable and safe.
• Roadways: Recycled concrete can be used to reconstruct, repair and maintain highway systems and structures. These same processes can be used for local and small scale roadways as well.
• Development: You can use recycled concrete as part of the foundation of several types of warehouse, office and industrial development projects.
• Community: Recycled concrete can be used to make asphalt pavement courts, walkways and public sidewalks, and they typically last as long as virgin concrete.
• Environment: The production of recycled concrete is better for the environment, and it can actually be used for environmental restoration projects. For instance, in 2013, an artificial coral reef was constructed off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, using recycled concrete taken from a local airport and contracting company. The airport and contracting company provided pieces of concrete from old culvert pipes, footer pieces, box junctions and other miscellaneous pieces. These pieces were used to construct an artificial coral reef and were laid out in a way that fish could easily use them as protection from predators and to provide a home for a diverse community of marine life.

Learn More About Recycled Concrete

At Dynamic Concrete Pumping, we are dedicated to providing you with high-quality concrete pumping services with minimal environmental impact. That’s why we offer a green alternative to waste dumping. Instead of carelessly discharging wastewater into the environment, we use a combination of equipment to separate water from cement. Additionally, we break leftover slurry down into a 100% reusable material, which saves both time and the environment.

Want to learn more about recycled concrete or discuss how it can be used in your current building project? Call us toll-free at 1-877-236-9511 or contact us online.