Supports Recycling
Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are industrial by-products which can be used to supplement the use of cement in concrete mixtures while improving product performance. Examples include blast furnace slag, fly ash and silica fume; all of which increase concrete durability by decreasing permeability and cracking.
Blast furnace slag, the wast by-product of steel manufacturing, imparts added strength and durability to concrete and can replace up to 70% of the cement in the mix. Fly ash, the waste by-product of burning coal in electrical power plants, used to be landfilled but is now used in significant amounts in concrete mixes. Silica fume, a by-product of silicone production, consists of super-fine spherical particles and is used frequently for high-rise buildings to produce concrete that exceeds compressive strengths of 20,000 psi.
Once concrete has reached the end of its life cycle, it is 100% recyclable. It can be used as aggregate in roadbeds, as a granular material or, when properly engineered, as aggregate for new concrete mixtures.
