Ceramic tiles classified as non-biodegradable are made from fired clay, silica, and other natural materials for several construction applications. Waste ceramic tiles (WCTs) are produced from several sources, including manufacturing defects; surplus, broken, or damaged tiles resulting from handling; and construction and demolition debris. WCTs do not decompose easily, leading to long-term accumulation in landfills and occupying a significant amount of landfill space, which has substantial environmental impacts. Recycling WCTs offers several critical ecological benefits, including reducing landfill waste and pollution, conserving natural resources, lowering energy consumption, and supporting the circular economy, which in turn contributes to sustainable construction and waste management practices. In green concrete manufacturing, WCTs are widely utilized as replacements for cement, fine, and coarse aggregates, and the recycling level in the concrete industry is an increasingly explored practice aimed at promoting sustainability and reducing construction waste. From this view, this paper reports the innovative technologies, advancements in green concrete performance, and development trends in the reuse of WCTs in the production of systems. The effects of WCTs on fresh, engineering, microstructural, and durable properties, as well as their environmental performance, are reviewed. In conclusion, the use of technologies for recycling WCTs has demonstrated potential in promoting sustainability and supporting the transition toward a more environmentally friendly construction industry. This approach offers a practical contribution to sustainable development and represents significant progress in closing the recycling loop within the construction sector.

This article reports the durability performance of modified concrete with silica nanoparticles and a high volume of waste ceramic tiles under varying elevated temperatures. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was replaced with 60% waste ceramic tiles powder (WTCPs) and supplemented with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% nanopowders from waste glass bottles (WGBNPs) as a rich source of silica. The natural aggregates (both coarse and fine) were fully replaced by the crushed waste ceramic tiles (WTCAs). After 28 days of curing, the modified specimens were exposed to varying elevated temperatures (200, 400, 600, and 800 °C) in a furnace followed by air cooling. Tests such as residual compressive strength, weight loss, ultrasonic plus velocity, visual appearance, and microstructural analysis were conducted. Additionally, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to validate the performance of the proposed predictive equations, as well as their terms, using p-values and F-values. It was discerned that OPC substitution with WTCPs and WGBNPs significantly improved the concrete’s performance under elevated temperatures. It is observed that the addition of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% WGBNPs lowered the concrete deterioration by increasing the residual strength and reducing both internal and external cracks. This study provides some new insights into the utilization of WTCPs and WGBNPs to produce sustainable and eco-friendly modified concrete with high spalling resistance characteristics at elevated temperatures.

Alkali-activated binders have become popular in the construction industry for their eco-friendly attributes. Various wastes from industries and agricultural sectors containing high concentrations of aluminosilicate and calcium oxides can be used to design these binders. This study evaluated the effect of high-volume granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash, and palm oil fuel ash additions on the bond strength performance of the proposed geopolymer mortars. Various levels of slag (50, 60, and 70%) and fly ash were substituted by palm oil fuel ash to determine the impact of SiO₂:Al₂O₃, CaO:SiO₂, and CaO:Al₂O₃ and their proportions on the geopolymerization process and the strength performance of the designed mortars. The bond strength performance of the mortars was assessed in terms of slant shear, flexural, and splitting tensile strength tests. The mineral properties of the designed mortars were obtained using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared measurements. The incorporation of fly ash and palm oil fuel ash in the mortars caused a considerable decrease in the CaO:SiO₂ and CaO:Al₂O₃ ratios, thus reducing the geopolymerization process and strength performance. The reduction in slag from 70% to 50% was counterbalanced by the increasing content of fly ash and palm oil fuel ash, which led to a drop in the compressive strength from 97 MPa to 56 MPa. In each level of slag, the replacement of fly ash by up to 10% palm oil fuel ash added more loss in strength values. In addition, the surface morphology of prepared mortars with lower palm oil fuel ash content was significantly enhanced, indicating the presence of less porosity and unreacted particles. The achieved mortars were asserted to be extremely well matched with the concrete substrates, offering effective binders for widespread construction uses.

Discarded rubber tires (DSRTs) have become a significant landfill and environmental problem that needs to be solved to reduce health risks, fires, and other environmental issues. The inclusion of such rubber can enhance the ductility of concrete and increase its resistance to dynamic loads, as well as enhancing the concrete’s durability and lifespan by modifying its impact resistance (IR). However, the smooth surface and low bond strength with cement pastes directly lead to a decrease in the strength of the proposed concrete, restricting its range of use in the construction industry. The inclusion of pozzolanic materials with high hydraulic capacity in the concrete matrix as partial cement replacements, such as granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS), has led to enhanced performance of the modified rubberized concretes (MRCs) in terms of bond strength and other mechanical properties. Based on these facts, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of including 20% GBFS and various levels (5–25%) of metakaolin (MK) as replacements for ordinary Portland cement (OPC), on the engineering properties of newly designed rubberized concretes. For this purpose, twenty-two mixes of MRCs were prepared by replacing the OPC and natural aggregates with various contents of GBFS, MK, and DSRTs. The results indicated that the MRC specimens prepared with a ternary blend of OPC-GBFS-MK illustrated significant improvements in strength performance, wherein the compressive strength (CS) after the curing age of 56 days (46.5 MPa) was higher than that of the OPC control mix (41.2 MPa). Moreover, the mix designed with high amounts of MK-GBFS-DSRTs significantly enhanced the engineering properties of the proposed MRCs by increasing the IR and reducing the total porosity. It can be asserted that, by using MK, GBFS, and DSRTs as renewable resources for construction materials, the environmental problems can significantly be reduced, with excellent benefits in the engineering properties of the designed rubberized concretes.