See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/24409582

Reuse of waste glass in building brick production

Article  in  Waste Management & Research · June 2009

DOI: 10.1177/0734242X08096528 · Source: PubMed

CITATIONS READS

37 4,158

1 author:

Ismail Demir
Afyon Kocatepe University
23 PUBLICATIONS   668 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

2164643 View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Ismail Demir on 10 February 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi
and Singapore
http://www.sagepub.com
Copyright © ISWA 2009
ISSN 0734–242X
Waste Management & Research
2009: 27: 572–577
DOI: 10.1177/0734242X08096528

Reuse of waste glass in building brick production

Ismail Demir
Afyon Kocatepe University, Technical Education Faculty, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey

The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of waste glass addition on the properties of fired clay brick. Milled
waste glass was added into brick clay at a ratio of 0% (control sample), 2.5, 5 and 10%. Four different series of test samples were
produced by extrusion pressing. Samples were fired at 850, 950 and 1050 °C. The microstructures of the fired samples were
investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The compressive strength of the fired samples was significantly improved by the
addition of waste glass. It was concluded that the amorphous nature of waste glass particles enhanced the sintering action and
this led to better strength behaviour.

Keywords: Waste glass, recycling, building brick, sintering

Introduction
Over recent years improvements in living standards and glass, insulating or reinforcing fibres, and glass or glass–
technological development have brought about a significant ceramic composites (Colombo et al. 2003). A bottle recovery
growth in the consumption of single-use bottles. The conse- system, through which empty bottles are collected, washed,
quent increase of waste glass in Turkey, especially from the and reused, has already been established. In addition, bro-
beverage sector, requires technical solutions for recycling ken bottles and bottles previously containing chemicals, cos-
that are also economically feasible. The use of waste glass in metics, etc. are melted down to be recycled or crushed and
the production of building materials (such as brick) has been turned into paving material, block material, glass marble,
successfully carried out as it can reduce both the consump- glass tile, glass fibre, lightweight blowing agents, etc. (Seung
tion of natural resources and the cost of waste disposal while et al. 2004). The glass–ceramic process has been proposed as
protecting the environment from the harmful effects of one real and useful choice to recycle industrial and munici-
waste materials. pal waste glass. It involves the controlled nucleation and
Glass has become indispensable in life due to such proper- crystallization of glasses through carefully designed heat
ties as its ability to take any shape with ease, its bright surface treatments, producing materials with dense, fine-grained
and resistance to abrasion, and its safety and durability. As microstructures (Alvarez-Mendez et al. 2003). The use of
the range of uses of glass increase, so does the amount of the waste glass in the production of building materials has been
waste glass. The United Nations estimates the volume of solid successfully pursued as it can reduce both the consumption
waste disposed of annually over the world to be 200 million of natural resources and the cost of waste disposal, as well as
tonnes, 7% of which is made up of glass. For Turkey, this protecting the environment from harmful effects. As glass is
amount approaches 120 000 tonnes, 80 000 tonnes of which one of the predominant constituents of vitrified ceramic bod-
are recycled, and it has been reported that in Germany ies, many authors have considered this to be the most suita-
3 million tonnes of waste glass are being recycled. Further- ble field for the potential recycling of waste glass (Manukyan
more, unlike other waste products, glass is imperishable and & Davydova 1996, Lingart 1998, Pelino 2000, Shil’tsina &
thus detrimental to the environment (Kısacık 2002; Topcu & Selivanov 2000, Erol et al. 2001, Matteucci et al. 2002, Ram-
Canbaz 2004; Turgut 2008). baldi et al. 2004, Tucci et al. 2004, Bernardo et al. 2006, 2007,
The present trend is towards the use of glass obtained Mear et al. 2006, Bragança et al. 2006, Karamberi et al. 2007,
from waste materials in the fabrication of marketable prod- Pontikes et al. 2007). Thus, waste glass has become a com-
ucts such as glass–ceramics, tiles for flooring or lining, foam mercial alternative to traditional raw materials in ceramic

Corresponding author: Ismail Demir, Afyon Kocatepe University, Technical Education Faculty, A.N.S Campus, 03200 Afyonkarahisar, Turkey.
E-mail: idemir@aku.edu.tr
Received 18 March 2008; accepted in revised form 19 July 2008
Figure 4 appears in color online: http://wmr.sagepub.com

572
 Reuse of waste glass in building brick production

Table 1: Chemical composition of the clay (wt.%).

SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO CaO Na2O K2O SO3 LOI Total
54.35 21.40 6.85 1.45 4.25 0.85 1.25 0.90 8.35 99.65

bodies. Furthermore, due to both the large amount of liquid Materials and methods
phase (50–65%) developed during firing and the flexibility of The clay used in this study was taken from one of the local
the tile-making process, glassy materials may be introduced brick plants in the Afyon region in Turkey. Chemical tests
into porcelain stoneware bodies without modifying the man- were carried out on the brick clay as shown in Table 1. It can
ufacturing cycle significantly (Raimondo et al. 2007). be seen that there were no harmful compounds from the
Fusing glass particles into a dense product occurs by vis- mineralogical properties of the fired products. Qualitative
cous phase sintering at temperatures much lower than the determination of major crystalline phases present in the clay
melting temperatures of crystalline materials of the same materials was achieved by using an X-ray diffractometer (Schi-
composition. This sintering mechanism is controlled by the madzu XRD-6000, CuKα: 1.54060 A). Brick clay contains cal-
glass composition, impurities, surface area, packing efficiency cite, clinichlore, muscovite and quartz as its major crystalline
and crystallization behaviour. Glass flow is required to fuse phases (Figure 1) and waste glass contains only glassy phase
and sinter the particles together. The viscosity is reduced and (Figure 2).
flow increases with greater particle size causing less efficient The waste glass was first crushed by using a laboratory-type
particle packing (CWC Report 2000). Leshina & Pivnev (2002) jaw crusher and then ground in a ball mill in the laboratory.
studied the effect of glass waste on the properties of ceramic The fineness of the waste glass was checked by dry sieving
wall materials. An optimum batch composition was devel- through a 0.5 mm sieve. The brick clay was first crushed by
oped, and an experimental batch of bricks was produced on using a laboratory-type roll crusher with an opening of 1 mm
an existing production line without significant modifications and then sieved through a 1 mm sieve. The particle size distri-
of the technological conditions and the fundamental poten- butions of the ground waste glass and brick clay were analysed
tial for the utilization of household waste glass was demon- on a laser size distribution analyser (Master Sizer X 1.2b) and
strated. the test results are shown in Figure 3. The majority of the clay
The main objective of this study was to investigate the was made up of very tiny particles and a few very coarse par-
effect of the addition of waste glass on the properties of the ticles, which were calcium carbonate. The mean particle size
fired clay bricks. The effects on the technological properties (d50) of the waste glass and clay were 21 and 6.45 µm, respec-
of the bricks such as compressive strength, water absorption, tively (Figure 3).
apparent porosity, bulk and apparent densities after firing In order to obtain comparable results, four different series
were investigated. Different amounts of waste glass (0, 2.5, 5 of samples were prepared for the tests depending on the
and 10%) were added to the original brick clay and fired at amount of waste glass added. The mix proportions were pre-
temperatures between 850 and 1050 °C. Microstructural pared based on the dry weight of the materials. Series A was
changes in the fired clay brick samples were investigated by the standard clay brick; series B, C and D contained 2.5, 5 and
scanning electron microscopy. 10% by weight of waste glass, respectively. Solid brick clay

Fig. 1: XRD patterns of clay materials.

573
I. Demir

Fig. 2: XRD patterns of waste glass materials.

amount of waste glass added, changes in the plasticity and dry-

ing shrinkage of the samples of the clay bodies were deter-
mined.
The dried samples were fired at 850, 950 and 1050 °C in
an electrically heated kiln at a heating rate of 3 °C min–1 and
then held for 2 h at the firing temperature. The fired samples
were cooled naturally to the ambient temperature in the fur-
nace. Tests were carried out on at least 12 samples and the
average value of the results was reported. An apparatus with
Fig. 3: Particle size of the waste glass and brick clay. a testing capacity of 25 kN compression capacity was used to
investigate the compressive strength of the samples. Loading
rates of 1 and 0.04 kN s–1 were applied to samples during the
measurement of compressive strength. Archimedes method
was used to determine the apparent porosity, bulk density,
apparent density and water absorption. In addition, the dry
and total shrinkage and loss on ignition (LOI) were deter-
mined. Compressive strength was measured for fired samples,
according to TS EN 772-1 (TS EN 2005). The effect of the
addition of waste glass and firing temperature on the micro-
structure of the fired clay brick was investigated by scanning
electron microscopy (LEO 1430 VP). The fractured surface
of the brick samples were investigated by a secondary elec-
Fig. 4: Materials used in the study and the final product: (a) bottle; (b)
crushing; (c) ground powder of the glass; (d) brick clay; (e) fired sam- tron imaging technique.
ple.
Results and discussion
Technological properties of the brick bodies
samples were produced using pilot laboratory procedures At least 12 samples were used at each test for all categories
and equipment. Test specimens with a cross-section of 75 mm × and the averages are presented and discussed in this section.
40 mm and 100 mm in length (Figure 4) were produced with Defect-free (cracking, bloating, expansions, etc.) samples
a laboratory-type extruder, with sufficient samples being pro- were obtained after the firing of all the waste glass addition
duced from each of the mixtures to perform the experiments. levels. The LOI of the samples continuously decreased as the
The shaped samples were dried under laboratory condi- amount of waste glass addition increased (Table 2). The
tions (21 °C, 60% relative humidity) for 24 h and then dried replacement of clay with waste glass in the body led to a
to constant weight at 110 °C in an oven. Depending on the decrease in the LOI values of the mixtures. As clay minerals

574
 Reuse of waste glass in building brick production

Table 2: Average values of the shrinkage and LOI of the samples.

Waste glass Shrinkage (%) LOI (%)

content (%) Dry 850 °C 950 °C 1050 °C 850 °C 950 °C 1050 °C
0 3.95 5.35 5.67 6.12 8.17 9.19 9.69
2.5 3.72 5.15 5.21 5.28 7.79 8.64 9.22
5 3.64 4.65 4.69 4.82 7.84 8.19 9.10
10 3.53 4.35 4.48 4.57 7.27 8.24 8.61

Table 3: Average values of the bulk density and apparent density of the samples.

Waste glass Bulk density (g cm–3) Apparent density (g cm–3)

content (%) 850 °C 950 °C 1050 °C 850 °C 950 °C 1050 °C
0 1.66 1.60 1.69 2.58 2.31 2.34
2.5 1.62 1.55 1.66 2.55 2.23 2.25
5 1.67 1.56 1.64 2.56 2.22 2.24
10 1.68 1.59 1.65 2.56 2.25 2.25

Table 4: Average values of the apparent porosity and water absorption.

Waste glass Apparent porosity (%) Water absorption (wt.%)

content (%) 850 °C 950 °C 1050 °C 850 °C 950 °C 1050 °C
0 35.71 30.9 27.7 19.45 15.48 13.94
2.5 35.02 28.43 26.4 19.06 14.72 12.86
5 33.27 29.58 26.77 18.35 13.52 11.67
10 34.17 29.21 26.16 17.73 12.82 10.89

contain chemically bonded water and organics inside the the durability and so the internal structure of the brick must
structures, they show higher weight loss than waste glass dur- be dense enough to avoid the intrusion of water. Water
ing firing. The drying shrinkage of the waste glass-containing absorption is directly related to the apparent porosity and a
samples was significantly lower than that of samples manu- similar tendency was observed in water absorption, and
factured from the brick clay only. The firing shrinkage apparent porosity (Table 4). The water absorption values
increased with increasing temperature and decreased with decreased with increasing firing temperature, and decreased
increasing amounts of waste glass. As a result, there was a lin- with increasing amounts of waste glass in the mixtures. The
ear decrease in the drying and total shrinkage as the amount of samples fired at 950 and 1050 °C were found to be within
waste glass in the mixture increased (Table 2). It is consid- specifications (18% water absorption by weight) (ASTM, C 67
ered that the reduction in dry and firing shrinkage of brick 1986, TS EN 771-1 2005). However, samples fired at 850 °C
material caused a positive effect by decreasing any internal showed a water absorption which is a little above the thresh-
strain that may occur during the drying and firing process. old value.
Furthermore, a decrease in the total shrinkage value is con- Generally as the porosity increases, the strength properties
sidered to be good for the dimensional stability of the clay decrease in traditional ceramic systems. Compressive strength
brick after firing. tests were carried out on the brick samples as shown in Table 5.
The bulk density of the samples had no influence on
either the amount of waste glass added to the mixture and
the chosen firing temperatures. Table 5: Average values of the compressive strength.
The apparent density of the samples fired at 950 and
Compressive strength (MPa)
1050 °C was lower than that of samples fired at 850 °C Waste glass
(Table 3). This was because the samples fired at 950 and content (%) 850 °C 950 °C 1050 °C
1050 °C had much more glassy phase than that of the bricks 0 16.45 19.50 20.37
fired at 850 °C, since this is intrinsically related to the total
2.5 18.75 22.65 24.50
closed pore volume of the samples.
5 20.15 25.13 27.15
Water absorption is an important factor for the durability
10 20.62 27.56 29.35
of bricks. When water infiltrates into the brick, it decreases

575
I. Demir

The results indicate that the strength was extremely dependent Both the control sample and the samples that included
on the amount of waste glass in the mixtures as well as on the waste glass and fired at 850 °C had less glassy phase than the
applied firing temperatures. Compressive strength increased samples fired at 950 and 1050 °C (Figure 5a and b). However,
with increasing waste glass content. This behaviour was increasing the amount of waste glass addition increased the
observed for all series. Such a strength increase has also fluxing action and produced more liquid phase above 850 °C
been reported by other researchers (Leshina & Pivnev 2002, (Figure 6a and b). It is obvious that the amount of glassy
Bernardo et al. 2006, Raimondo et al. 2007). The compressive phase is a function of sintering temperature and amount of
strength of fired clay bricks was lowest in the control samples waste glass added to the mixtures. As part of the clay was
(0%) at the given temperatures. This was due to the increased replaced with waste glass content, the risk of strength reduc-
porosity of the control samples in comparison with the sam- tion due to quartz transformation is reduced. Moreover, the
ples that included waste glass. waste glass addition is glassy in nature and shows glassy phase
As clay particles preserve their original structures and transformation in the body. Therefore the addition of waste
contribute only slightly to vitrification at low temperatures, glass makes a positive contribution to the strength of the fired
the lowest strength improvements were obtained at 850 °C clay body. The minimum average compressive strength of the
(Table 5). However, the addition of waste glass considerably brick is prescribed in the TS EN 771-1 code for masonry units.
contributes to vitrification and enhances the strength devel- The requirement for brick strength for densities 1.6–1.7 g cm–3
opment by closing the internal pores with glassy phase, espe- and for 1.7–1.8 g cm–3 are given as 10 and 18 MPa, respec-
cially at firing temperatures of 950 and 1050 °C. The waste tively. It was observed that the compressive strength of the
glass particles dissolve in the clay body and this contributes samples (except for control samples fired at 850 °C) were
to the densification of the clay brick. above 18 MPa for all mix proportions.

Fig. 5: (a) SEM images of the control sample, fired at 850 °C; and (b) Fig. 6: (a) SEM images of the control sample, fired at 1050 °C; and (b)
the sample with addition of 10% waste glass, fired at 850 °C. the sample with addition of 10% waste glass, fired at 1050 °C.

576
 Reuse of waste glass in building brick production

Conclusions According to the test results, a mixture with up to 10%

From the results obtained in this study, the viability of pro- waste glass additive can be used in building brick production.
duction of building brick materials that include waste glass A suitable firing temperature was determined to be 950 °C.
was verified. It was observed that both dry and total shrink- The use of waste glass in the raw mixture minimizes the
age values were lower for mixtures with waste glass addition physical damage that may occur during brick production.
when compared with the plain samples. Furthermore, linear The reuse of waste glass material in brick production pro-
shrinkage increased with increasing firing temperature. LOI vides an economic contribution and also helps to protect the
increased with increasing firing temperatures and decreased environment.
as the waste glass content increased. The results showed that Noticeable increase in the strength was observed at 950
there was a direct correlation between the decrease in both and 1050 °C firing temperatures. Fired clay brick production
porosity and water absorption with increasing firing temper- seems to be a feasible way to utilize the waste glass.
atures and waste glass addition, respectively. The firing tem-
peratures and waste glass content in the mixtures also Acknowledgments
affected the mechanical strength of the mixtures. The author would like to acknowledge the financial support
It was also shown that higher firing temperatures increased of the TUBITAK and Afyon Kocatepe University of Tur-
the mechanical strength. The plain mixtures had the lowest key.
mechanical strength for all firing temperatures.

References
Alvarez-Mendez, A., Torres-Gonzalez, LC., Alvarez, N., & Torres-Mar- Manukyan, R.V. & Davydova, N.S. (1996) Use of waste in the ceramic
tinez, LM. (2003) Kinetic thermal analysis of glass ceramics from industry. Glass and Ceramics, 53, 247–248.
industrial wastes. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 329, 73–76. Matteucci, F., Dondi, M., & Guarini, G. (2002) Effect of soda–lime glass
ASTM. (ed.) (1986) ASTM, C 67. Standard Methods of Sampling and Test- on sintering and technological properties of porcelain stoneware
ing Brick and Structural Clay Tile. Brick Manufacturing, Part I. tiles. Ceramics International, 28, 873–880.
American Society for Testing and Measurement, West Consho- Mear, F., Yot, P., Cambon, M., & Ribes, M. (2006) The characterization
hoken, PA, USA. of waste cathode-ray tube glass. Waste Management, 26, 1468–1476.
Bernardo, E., Castellan, R., Hreglich, S., & Lancellotti, I. (2006) Sin- Pelino, M. (2000) Recycling of zinc-hydrometallurgy wastes in glass and
tered sanidine glass-ceramics from industrial wastes. Journal of the glass ceramic materials. Waste Management, 20, 561–568.
European Ceramic Society, 26, 3335–3341. Pontikes, Y., Esposito, L., Tucci, A., & Angelopoulos, G.N. (2007) Ther-
Bernardo, E., Castellan, R., & Hreglich, S. (2007) Sintered glass-ceram- mal behaviour of clays for traditional ceramics with soda–lime–sil-
ics from mixtures of wastes. Ceramics International, 33, 27–33. ica waste glass admixture. Journal of the European Ceramic Society,
Bragança, S.R., Vicenzi, J., Guerino, K., & Bergmann, C.P. (2006) Recy- 27, 1657–1663.
cling of iron foundry sand and glass waste as raw material for pro- Raimondo, M., Zanelli, C., Matteucci, F., Guarini, G., Dondi, M., &
duction of whiteware. Waste Management & Research, 24, 60–66. Labrincha, J.A. (2007) Effect of waste glass (TV/PC cathodic tube
CWC Report (ed.) (2000) Densification, Crystallization, and Sticking and screen) on technological properties and sintering behaviour of
Behaviour of Crushed Waste Glass Sintered in Refractory Molds With porcelain stoneware tiles. Ceramics International, 33, 615–623.
Release Agents. Report no. GL-00-2, Prepared by: Haun Labs., Rambaldi, E., Tucci, A., & Esposito, L. (2004) Use of recycled materials in
http://www.cwc.org/glass/gl002rpt.pdf, 2008. the traditional ceramic industry. Ceramics International, 1–2, 13–23.
Colombo, P., Brusatin, G., Bernardo, E., & Scarinci, G. (2003) Inertiza- Seung B.P., Lee B.C., & Kim J.H. (2004) Studies on mechanical proper-
tion and reuse of waste materials by vitrification and fabrication of ties of concrete containing waste glass aggregate. Cement and Con-
glass-based products. Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials crete Research, 34, 2181–2189.
Science, 7, 225–239. Shil’tsina, A.D. & Selivanov, V.M. (2000) Ceramic tiles made of granular
Erol, M., Kucukbayrak, S., Ersoy-Mericboyu A., & Ovecoglu, M.L. technogenic raw materials. Glass and Ceramics, 57, 7–8.
(2001) Crystallization behaviour of glasses produced from fly ash. Topcu, I.B. & Canbaz, M. (2004) Properties of concrete containing waste
Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 21, 2835–2841. glass. Cement and Concrete Research, 34, 267–274.
Karamberi, A., Orkopoulos, K., & Moutsatsou, A. (2007) Synthesis of TS EN 771-1 (Turkish Standard Institution) (ed.) (2005) Specification for
glass-ceramics using glass cullet and vitrified industrial by-products. Masonry Units, Part 1: Clay Masonry Units. Turkish Standard Insti-
Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 27, 629–636. tution, Ankara, Turkey.
Kısacık, I.E. (2002) Using Glass in Concrete. BS Thesis. Department of TS EN 772-1 (Turkish Standard Institution) (ed.) (2005) Methods of Test
Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, for Mortar for Masonry Units; Part 1: Determination of Compres-
Osmangazi University, Turkey, p. 52. sive Strength. Turkish Standard Institution, Ankara, Turkey.
Leshina, V.A. & Pivnev, A.L. (2002) Ceramic wall materials using glass Tucci, A., Esposito, L., Rastelli, E., Palmonari, C., & Rambaldi, E. (2004)
waste. Glass and Ceramics, 59, 9–10. Use of soda–lime scrap-glass as a fluxing agent in a porcelain stone-
Lingart, Y. (1998) Imitation of natural material tiling using waste glass. ware mix. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 24, 83–92.
Glass Technology, 39, 42–43. Turgut, P. (2008) Properties of masonry blocks produced with waste lime-
stone. Construction and Building Materials, 22, 1422–1427.

577

View publication stats