Glass is considered an environmentally friendly material, due to the fact that it is easily recyclable. Unfortunately, it turns out that there are so many of them that we can not keep up with its processing, especially small fragments.
As always, however, science comes to the rescue because it turned out that researchers have discovered a way to use glass waste in making cheaper and more durable concrete than ever before. The team led by Riyadh Al-Ameri began with various pieces of glass, unsuitable for recycling, which were then ground to a thick powder. Later this was added to the concrete mix instead of the standard sand used.
When the resulting concrete was tested, it turned out to be much more durable than the classic one. What's more, the sand used in concrete mixes must be properly mined, washed and then classified, so the costs of using it are higher than mixtures with glass. Especially that we now have full glass dumps to be used, which further reduces the production costs of new concrete.
Source: GeekWeek.pl/newatlas