ABSTRACT: The waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) particles combined with pozzolanic materials can be used in the production of concretes with the goal of diminish the quantity of waste in landfills and reduce the depletion of natural resources. However, little has been researched about the environmental viability of the use of wastes in the production of concrete, and no assessment regarding the use of waste PET as fine aggregate in self-compacting concretes (SCC) has been done in the literature. Thus, this paper reports a comparative life-cycle assessment (LCA) of seven SCC mixtures, aiming to verify its environmental load in a case study in a region in Brazil. The weight replacement ratio of natural fine aggregates by waste PET aggregates was 5, 10 and 15 weight percent (wt.%). For each of these replacements, the weight replacement ratio of cement by silica fume used was 0 and 10 wt.%. Moreover, a control mixture with no replacements was used for comparison. The SimaPro software along with the Ecoinvent database and Impact 2002+ impact assessment method were used to perform the LCA. The most environmentally sound mixture in the scenario analyzed was that with 5 wt.% of PET and 10 wt.% of silica fume, but no significant improvements have been noted when using and ‘total impact intensity’ analysis. It was concluded that waste PET particle alone does not help to reduce the overall environmental impact of concrete despite of having a lower impact than natural sand from a certain distance scenario.
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