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Author
Clifton, J. R. | Brown, P. W. | Frohnsdorff, G. J. C.
Title
Uses of Waste Materials and By-Products in Construction. Part 1.
Coporate
National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
Journal
Resource Recovery and Conservation, Vol. 5, No. 2, 139-160, July 1980
Keywords
construction materials | waste disposal
Identifiers
wastes utilization
Abstract
A survey has been made of the sources, amounts and methods of disposal of major mining, industrial and municipal wastes available in the 48 counterminous states of the United States. This includes the present and potential uses of these wastes as construction materials. While over 3 x 10 to the 9th power tons of waste materials are generated annually in the United States, only small amounts are being used by the construction industry. The low level of use does not yet reflect the advances being made in converting wastes into viable construction materials. In several cases, construction materials produced from wastes have been at least the technological equivalent of materials produced from virgin resources. Factors which are impeding the increased utilization of wastes are discussed and emerging incentives which could facilitate their increased use are covered.