Waste-Based Bricks: Evaluation of Strength Behaviour of Bricks Containing Different Waste Materials as an Additive

Technological and industrial developments have impacted every aspect of human life, making it convenient, resourceful, advanced, and fast paced. However, this advancement along with population growth is also translating negatively to humongous levels of waste generation globally. "Throw away culture" has further worsened the situation. Every year, billions of tonne solid waste is created, most of which is poorly managed, dumped, or burned, harming the environment, climate, and natural resources and disrupting the ecological balance. The generation of waste cannot be stopped, but it can surely be recycled or reused judicially in order to mitigate the harmful effects. In recent years, many researchers have investigated the feasibility of waste utilization in varied sectors. The building industry is one sector where many sorts of waste materials can be used in large quantities. This paper critically reviews the current state of research and knowledge in utilizing waste materials for manufacturing of bricks. Detailed review on variety of wastes (fly ash, plastic waste, construction and demolition waste, agricultural waste, glass, ceramic, and rubber and paper and pulp industry waste) used in bricks and their impact on the strength behaviour, water absorption, porosity, thermal conductivity, etc. has been presented. The highlight of our observations is that the firing and cementing methods for producing bricks from waste materials still have the same drawbacks as traditional brick production methods in terms of high energy utilization. Analysis shows superior strength properties of bricks containing fly ash, plastic waste, and construction and demolition waste over other types of wastes. Comparison of the properties of non-fired bricks using different wastes shows that the bricks prepared by geo-polymerization of fly ash exhibit higher energy efficiency and sustainability.