In Europe, the use of wastes in the cement and construction industry follows the assumptions of sustainability and the idea of circular economy. At present, it is observed that cement plants introduce wastes to the cement in the form of so-called mineral additives. The most often used mineral additives are: fly ash with silica fume, granulated blast furnace slag and silica fume. The use of mineral additives in the cement is related to the fact that the use of the most expensive component of cement—Portland cement clinker—is limited. The purpose of the article is a preliminary evaluation of the suitability of slag from the municipal solid waste incineration plant for its use as a replacement of cement. In this article, slag from the municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) replaces cement in the quantity of 30%, and presents the content of oxides and elements of slag from the MSWI. The obtained results are compared to the requirements that the crushed and granulated blast furnace slag need to meet to be suitable for use as an additive of type II to the concrete. The conducted analyses confirmed that the tested slag meets the requirements for the granulated blast furnace slag as an additive to the concrete in the following parameters: CaO ≤ 18.0%, SO3 ≤ 2.5% and Cl ≤ 0.1%. At the same time, mechanical features were tested of the designed mortars which consisted of a mixture of Portland cement (CEM I) with 30% of slag admixture. The designed mortar after 28 days of maturing reached a compressive strength of 32.0 MPa, and bending strength of 4.0 MPa. When compared to the milled granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS), the obtained values are slightly lower. Furthermore, the hardened mortars were subject to a leachability test to check the impact on the environment. Test results showed that the aqueous extracts from mixtures with 30% of slag admixtures slightly exceed the limits and do not pose a sufficiant threat to the environment as to eliminate the MSWI slag from economical use.

The aim of this work was to check the possibility of using a concrete matrix to immobilize contaminants from ash (fly and bottom) originating from the combustion of solid municipal waste. This work presents tests of ash from a Polish incineration plant. Nowadays, the management of ash poses a big problem with respect to the high concentration of contaminants that constitutes an environmental nuisance (heavy metals, chlorides, sulfates, etc.). The excessive leaching of contaminants disqualifies ash from being deposited in landfills for hazardous wastes. Bottom ash following the combustion of solid municipal waste mainly contains calcium (23.81%), chlorine (5.44%) and heavy metal (Σ 11.27 g/kg) compounds, while fly ash is characterized by a high content of chlorine (7.22%) and heavy metals (Σ 7.83 g/kg). In the next stage, two concrete mixtures were designed and prepared, containing 30% of ash from combustion of solid municipal waste. The most advantageous physicomechanical properties had concrete mortars that contained 30% of bottom ash: compressive strength—29.48 MPa, bending strength—1678 kN. The performed tests showed that immobilization of dangerous compounds through the C-S-H phase of the concrete significantly decreases the migration of dangerous substance into the environment and minimizes its toxicity. Approximately 97% of the chloride and sulfate salt content was immobilized, and the heavy metal content was immobilized by the C-S-H phase to a degree of 90%. The results obtained provide the option of conveniently managing dangerous wastes with the use of a tight and durable concrete. In many cases, such technology may constitute the best and the cheapest long-term solution in the waste management economy. It may also fill a market gap in this field.

Biomass is commonly considered as a renewable fuel, which taking into account emission of CO2 does not contribute to the emission of the greenhouse gases. In the research, combustion tests of two types of fuel formed on the basis of straw with addition of polyethylene were performed in the laboratory. The article presents results of measurements of gas pollution coming from the combustion of the formed fuel. Obtained results were compared with similar literature data for the combustion of coal. The research covers also testing of chemical content, content of heavy metals and selected physical properties of ashes generated during the process of burning fuel based on straw.

Waste generated in fine wool production is homogeneous and without contamination, which increases its chances of reuse. Waste mineral wool from demolition sites belongs to the specific group of waste. However, the storage and collection require implementing restrictive conditions, such as improper storage of mineral wool, which is highly hazardous for the environment. The study focuses on the leachability of selected pollutants (pH, Cl⁻, SO₄²⁻) and heavy metals (Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) from the waste mineral wool. As a solution to the problem of storing mineral wool waste, it was proposed to process it into wool-based geopolymer. The geopolymer, based on mineral wool, was also assessed regarding the leaching of selected impurities. Rock mineral wool is very good for geopolymerisation, but the glass wool needs to be completed with additional components rich in Al₂O₃. The research involved geopolymer prepared from mineral glass wool with bauxite and Al₂O₃. So far, glass wool with the mentioned additives has not been tested. An essential aspect of the article is checking the influence of wool-based geopolymer on the environment. To investigate the environmental effects of the wool-based monolith and crushed wool geopolymers were compared. Such research has not been conducted so far. For this purpose, water extracts from fragmented geopolymers were made, and tests were carried out following EN 12457-4. There is no information in the literature on the influence of geopolymer on the environment, which is an essential aspect of its possible use. The research results proved that the geopolymer made on the base of mineral wool meets the environmental requirements, except for the pH value. As mentioned in the article, the geopolymerisation process requires the dissolution of the starting material in a high pH (alkaline) solution. On the other hand, the pH minimum 11.2 value of fresh geopolymer binder is required to start geopolymerisation. Moreover, research results analysed in the literature showed that the optimum NaOH concentration is 8 M. for the highest compressive strength of geopolymer. Therefore, the geopolymer strength decreases with NaO concentration in the NaOH solution. Geopolymers glass wool-based mortars with Al₂O₃ obtained an average compressive strength of 59, the geopolymer with bauxite achieved about 51 MPa. Thus, Al₂O₃ is a better additional glass wool-based geopolymer than bauxite. The average compressive strength of rock wool-based geopolymer mortar was about 62 MPa. The average compressive strength of wool-based geopolymer binder was about 20–25 MPa. It was observed that samples of geopolymers grout without aggregate participation are characterised by cracking and deformation.

The article analyzes the thermal degradation in the inert and oxidative atmosphere of waste vinyl panels, the main component of which is PVC. Both pyrolysis and incineration of plastic waste are difficult, complex and multifaceted processes due to several physical and chemical phenomena occurring during their performance. The coupled TG-MS (thermogravimetry-mass spectrometry) analysis combined with the Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (TG-FTIR) analysis was used to identify the decomposition mechanisms of waste vinyl panels. Thermogravimetric tests were carried out for two heating rates of 5 and 20 K/min in the temperature range of 40–1000 °C, mass losses were determined, and products resulting from thermal degradation were identified. It was found that the individual components decompose at different temperatures depending on the heating rate and the choice of an inert or oxidative atmosphere. Vinyl floor panels were treated in terms of secondary raw material, which, in the light of the circular economy, may constitute a potential energy or chemical resource.

In Europe there are nearly 500 incinerators. There are over 2000 of them in the world. It is estimated that the combustion of 1 ton (Mg) of waste produces about 250–300 kg of slag. Due to the large amounts of this waste, the construction industry’s demand for raw materials and the reduction of CO₂ emissions, research was undertaken to use slags as a cement component. The problem was complex because slags generated in the thermal treatment of municipal waste have different chemical compositions and physical properties and contain variable amounts of impurities. The choice of chemical analyses of slag was dictated by the potential influence on the properties of cement mortars. The total moisture of raw slag (4–10%), the bulk density (600–1267 kg/m³) and the specific surface after grinding (over 3000 cm²/g) were determined. The pH (11.9) and the content of sulphates (3.5% by weight), chlorides (0.3% by weight) and selected heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb) were measured in the aqueous extract. The obtained results of the washing test were compared with the values resulting from the currently binding legal regulations. In the next step, cement mortars with 30% addition of tested slags were designed and made. The article presents the results of compressive strength tests, which were compared with the results of samples without the addition of slag. The addition of slag to the cement mortar decreased S_MSWI 1 by 64% and S_MSWI 2 by 31%. The high loss of strength and the swelling of the S_MSWI 1 test led to the activation of the NaOH slag. In the endurance test, an increase from 16 to 32 MPa was recorded. Preliminary studies show that the addition of slag in the cement mortar allows obtaining the strength at the level of 30–32 MPa.