Analysis of the environmental impacts of alkali-activated concrete produced with waste glass-derived silicate activator – A LCA study

Abstract

Concrete is responsible for a significant share of global GHG emissions, which can be mainly ascribed to the production of clinker. Alkali-activated concretes have been investigated in literature as a possible alternative, but the sustainability still appears reduced by the high embodied energy of chemicals typically used for the activation step. This paper investigates concrete belonging to strength classes 35, 50 and 70 MPa and produced with a silicate activator derived from waste glass (AABR). Through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the investigation aims to compare the AABR to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) concrete and alkali-activated concrete produced with commercially available chemicals (AABC). The effects produced by the variations of some key parameters (impact allocation of precursors, energy mix, amount of activator in the concrete, distance of procurement of raw materials) over the total impact of the AABR are also investigated. Results show that the adoption of alkali-activated concretes instead of OPC concrete allows a significant reduction in environmental categories of global warming (averagely 64% reduction for AABC and 70% for AABR), acidification potential (averagely 23% for AABC and 35% for AABR), and terrestrial eutrophication (averagely 53% for AABC and 60% for AABR). In addition, the study evidenced that the use of waste glass-based activator allows a significant reduction in every environmental category when compared to the use of commercially available chemicals.