Possible Recycling of Waste Glass in Sustainable Fired Clay Bricks: A Review

The total production of waste glass (WG) in Australia during the period 2016 to 2017 was about 1.1 million tonnes, and approximately 467 kilotonnes were deposited in landfills, while 612 kilotonnes were recycled. The current recycling techniques practiced for crushed waste glass (CWG) are limited, resulting in a growing environmental challenge. Therefore, there is an interest in the development of novel technologies to recycle WG. Previous laboratory testing suggests that incorporating recycled CWG in the production of bricks may allow a reduction in firing temperature while maintaining brick strength. Furthermore, increasing the glass content and reducing the particle size of the glass significantly improved the physical/mechanical properties of the fired clay bricks, especially compressive strength. Besides, a dense and uniform structure was observed in the microscopic images after adding WG in fired clay bricks. A linear relationship was found between thermal conductivity and WG content. Therefore, incorporating CWG in fired clay bricks is a practical and feasible way to develop an environmentally friendly construction material and solve a growing waste issue.