Recycled Aggregate Concrete: Performance, Durability & Sustainability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajcec.v2i2.8460Keywords:
Circular Economy, Construction Demolition Waste, Durability, Interfacial Transition Zone, Life-Cycle Assessment, Recycled Aggregate Concrete, SustainabilityAbstract
Both construction and demolition (C&D) activity and the production of concrete rely on huge amounts of natural sand and gravel. The use of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC) with Recycled Aggregate (RA) from C&D waste could provide a pathway to addressing both pressures simultaneously. This review gathers and aggregates the latest scientific studies (2020-2026) published in the four fields of RAC: mechanical, durability, microstructural and environmental performance aspects. In general, the RAC has lower compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, and bond strength than natural aggregate concrete (NAC), and this strength decrease becomes larger as the RAC replacement ratio rises, as indicated in many studies; about 20-30 percent replacement is considered a practical optimum level between strength retention and utilization of waste, in many reviews. The main reason for this lack is the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) that is present around recycled particles that is more porous and prone to crack because of the presence of the old mortar adhered to it. Also, permeability to chloride, sulfate ions and carbonates can differ, with RAC generally being slightly more permeable than NAC, although treatments of the aggregates like carbonation curing, nano-silica impregnation, and mechanical pre-treatment can significantly reduce the differences. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies have always shown that recycled aggregate generates significantly less (typically 50 to 65 percent less) greenhouse gas and requires significantly less (typically 50 to 65 percent less) non-renewable energy than quarrying virgin aggregate, depending on the transport distance and processing method. Limited use of RCA is now incorporated into regulations like BS8500-2, RILEM recommendations, ACI guidance, and a number of national standards, which are conservative, and harmonized quality-classification systems are still being worked out. The review concludes that RAC is a technically possible and environmentally acceptable material at moderate replacement rates, depending on the quality of the aggregates used and the correct treatment or mix-design compensation if necessary.
References
Akbulut, Z. F., Guler, S., Yavuz, D., & Avcı, M. S. (2025). Toward sustainable construction: A critical review of recycled aggregate concrete properties and future opportunities. Case Studies in Construction Materials, 23, e09313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2025.e09313
Bai, W., Li, W., Guan, J., Wang, J., & Yuan, C. (2020). Research on the mechanical properties of recycled aggregate concrete under uniaxial compression based on the statistical damage model. Materials, 13(17), 3765. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13173765
British Standards Institution. (2016). BS 8500-2:2015+A1:2016: Concrete—Complementary British Standard to BS EN 206—Specification for constituent materials and concrete. BSI.
Chen, C., Adama, K. A., Liu, R., Chen, Y., Zhang, X., & Liu, H. (2025). Mechanisms of durability degradation in recycled fine aggregate concrete of varying strengths induced by chloride and sulfate dry-wet cycles. Materials, 18(21), 4985. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18214985
Chen, X.-F., Zhang, X.-C., & Yan, G.-H. (2025). Multiscale investigation of modified recycled aggregate concrete on sulfate attack resistance. Materials, 18(7), 1450. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18071450
Dias, A. B., Pacheco, J. N., Silvestre, J. D., Martins, I. M., & de Brito, J. (2021). Environmental and economic life cycle assessment of recycled coarse aggregates: A Portuguese case study. Materials, 14(18), 5452. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14185452
Ding, T., Xiao, J., & Tam, V. W. (2016). A closed-loop life cycle assessment of recycled aggregate concrete utilization in China. Waste Management, 56, 367-375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2016.05.031
Li, C., Liang, N., Zhao, M., Yao, K., Li, J., & Li, X. (2020). Shear performance of reinforced concrete beams affected by satisfactory composite-recycled aggregates. Materials, 13(7), 1711. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13071711
Liao, W., et al. (2024). Durability of recycled concrete after reinforcing the aggregates with permeable crystalline materials. Advances in Civil Engineering, 2024, 9978563. https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/9978563
Lv, Y., Mu, J., Du, K., Song, Q., & Niu, D. (2026). Unlocking the carbon sequestration potential: Machine learning-driven low-carbon design of recycled aggregate concrete. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2026
Ma, X., Hu, H., Luo, Y., Yao, W., Wei, Y., & She, A. (2025). A carbon footprint assessment for usage of recycled aggregate and supplementary cementitious materials for sustainable concrete: A life-cycle perspective in China. Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.01.222
Mineral Products Association. (2023). Use of recycled aggregates in concrete (Factsheet 6). MPA Cement.
Neupane, R. P., Devi, N. R., Imjai, T., Rajput, A., & Noguchi, T. (2025). Cutting-edge techniques and environmental insights in recycled concrete aggregate production: A comprehensive review. Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advances, 25, 200241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcradv.2024.200241
Neupane, R. P., Imjai, T., Makul, N., Garcia, R., Kim, B., & Chaudhary, S. (2023). Use of recycled aggregate concrete in structural members: A review focused on Southeast Asia. Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 24(3), 1197-1220. https://doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2023.2270029
Oikonomopoulou, K., Ioannou, S., Savva, P., Spanou, M., Nicolaides, D., & Petrou, M. F. (2022). Effect of mechanically treated recycled aggregates on the long-term mechanical properties and durability of concrete. Materials, 15(8), 2871. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15082871
Piccinali, A., Diotti, A., Plizzari, G., & Sorlini, S. (2022). Impact of recycled aggregate on the mechanical and environmental properties of concrete: A review. Materials, 15(5), 1818. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15051818
RILEM/ACI Foundation. (2018). ACI CRC 18.517: Guideline development for use of recycled concrete aggregates. American Concrete Institute Foundation.
Xiao, J. (2025). General outlines for recycled aggregate concrete for structural applications. In J. Xiao, Y. Zhang, A. Singh, & Z. Zhao (Eds.), Structural behaviour and innovation of recycled aggregate concrete (RILEM State-of-the-Art Reports, Vol. 42). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-86825-2_11
Xing, W., Tam, V. W. Y., Le, K. N., Hao, J. L., & Wang, J. (2022). Life cycle assessment of recycled aggregate concrete on its environmental impacts: A critical review. Construction and Building Materials, 317, 125950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.125950
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Abu Bakor Siddique Patwary, Md. Abir Hasan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
