Recycled Materials in Concrete

Utilization of Recycled Rubber in Concrete Mixtures

(Ongoing Research)

Christos G. Papakonstantinou and William Edberg

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that within the next 10 years the United States, among many other countries around the world, is facing many challenges regarding its waste materials. Many states and local governments face major issues regarding opening and operating new landfills due to many factors such as regulations, design modifications, and cost. One major area of concern, in some parts of the country, is the disposal of waste tires. The United States produces over 270,000,000 million waste tires each year. The EPA also estimates that two to three billion scrap tires are in landfills and stockpiles around the country and that that each person generates one waste tire per year.

Scrap tires represent a huge disposal problem and at the same time a vast resource opportunity. There is a definite need for research on the use of this resource creatively. Some research projects were established to determine the effectiveness of using crumb rubber in asphaltic concrete mixtures using various methods of incorporating the rubber to the mixes, but there has been no research activity on the use of crumb rubber in structural concrete. The ongoing research concentrate on the possibility of utilization of recycled tires in concrete mixtures.

For more information, send an email to cpapakonstan@umassd.edu.