Potential of industrial waste and plastic nanomaterials as a danger or a way to create a sustainable environment: a critical review

The number of studies concerning the adverse effects of industrial waste materials on the environment and human health has risen tremendously across the globe. Besides this, an increase in demand of various types of plastic, i.e., electronic goods, polythene, toys, single used plastic, etc., in the market, the way out of such a waste in the future, more is anticipated. Most of these waste materials including plastics are used to throw by the users in an open environment, water bodies, which affect the environment, animal ecosystems, and the human health up to a greater extent because of the varying size of these plastics, i.e., micro to nanoparticles. Therefore, a detailed review is carried out to identify the potential effects of industrial wastes in the construction sector. Based on the comprehensive survey on the literature, it was observed that industrial waste having cementitious properties may result in the strength enhancement of concrete mix resulting creating a sustainable development in the construction sector. It is also suggested that recycling a higher rate of e-waste leads to industrial reuse of metals, thereby saving the burden on mining of these raw materials. Overall, the plastic waste and e-waste utilization in concrete mix were not found beneficial concerning the compressive strength; however, plastic waste up to 16% and e-waste 0.8% may be recommended from the point of view of tensile and flexural strength. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.