USING GLASS WASTE FOR PRODUCING LOW CO2 CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL AS A CONTRIBUTION TO CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Promoting the circular economy is one of the main tools to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The culture of using residues in cementitious materials, mainly in concrete, is already established, favouring circularity. Fly ash is commonly used in blended cement or concrete production as supplementary cementing material. However, waste glass is not as commonly used as a cement substitute. In this context, this research contributes to the knowledge about the use of waste glass as partial cement replacement, developing an experimental work. Glass bottles were transformed into glass powder using two different grinding processes. They were produced glass powders with different colours and fineness. These powders were used to produce mortars with 25% of glass powder replacing cement. Mortars containing fly ash were also produced. Their compressive strengths were evaluated over time. Results concluded that white, green, and brown glass powders are acceptable to be used as cement replacements. The results also identify glass powder as a potential substitute for fly ash.