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Advances in Sustainable Concrete with Waste Glass: Valorization and Emerging...
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Advances in Sustainable Concrete with Waste Glass: Valorization and Emerging Technologies

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 1409

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Raphaele Malheiro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Territory, Environment and Construction, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: Cementitious materials;, waste valorization; durability; sustainability; bio-based materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. João Castro-Gomes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre of Materials and Civil Engineering for Sustainability, University of Beira Interior, 6200-358 Covilhã, Portugal
Interests: carbonated and alkali-activated cementitious materials; industrial waste recycling and valorization; sustainable solutions for construction infrastructure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on recent advances in the valorization of waste glass for the production of sustainable concrete. Waste glass, derived from post-consumer and industrial streams such as container glass, flat glass, and specialty glass, represents a valuable secondary resource within circular economy strategies in the construction sector. Its incorporation into cement-based materials—as an aggregate, a supplementary cementitious material, or a precursor for alternative binders—offers promising pathways through which to reduce environmental impacts while improving performance.

We welcome contributions addressing innovative processing technologies for waste glass (mechanical, thermal, and chemical activation), as well as its influence on fresh and hardened concrete properties, long-term durability, and performance under various service conditions. Studies linking waste glass utilization to life cycle assessment, carbon footprint reduction, and resource efficiency are especially welcome. Furthermore, contributions exploring cutting-edge valorization technologies and emerging applications for waste glass in construction materials will enrich this collection.

Dr. Raphaele Malheiro
Prof. Dr. João Castro-Gomes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • waste glass
  • sustainable concrete
  • durability
  • carbon footprint
  • life cycle assessment
  • post-consumer chain
  • circular economy
  • recycling and valorization
  • cementitious materials

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

32 pages, 8539 KB  
Article
Fineness Optimization of Waste Glass Powder as a Sustainable Alternative to Fly Ash in Cementitious Mixtures
by Carlos Jesus, Klaus Pontes, Ruben Couto, Rui Reis, Manuel Ribeiro, João C. C. Abrantes, João Castro-Gomes, Aires Camões and Raphaele Malheiro
Buildings 2026, 16(8), 1560; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16081560 - 16 Apr 2026
Viewed by 439
Abstract
The progressive phase-out of coal-fired power plants in Portugal has significantly reduced the availability of fly ash (FA) as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM), reinforcing the need for sustainable alternatives. Waste glass powder (WGP), characterized by its high amorphous silica content, has emerged [...] Read more.
The progressive phase-out of coal-fired power plants in Portugal has significantly reduced the availability of fly ash (FA) as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM), reinforcing the need for sustainable alternatives. Waste glass powder (WGP), characterized by its high amorphous silica content, has emerged as a promising candidate; however, most studies focus on ultrafine particles or isolated performance indicators, lacking an integrated technical, environmental, and economic assessment. This study evaluates cement pastes incorporating 25% WGP (by volume) with different particle size distributions, including fineness levels comparable to cement and FA. Mechanical performance, grinding energy demand, carbon footprint, and cost were systematically analyzed. The results indicate that WGP is technically viable as an SCM, with a median particle size (D50) of approximately 48 µm providing the most balanced performance. Although finer particles enhance pozzolanic reactivity, the associated increase in grinding energy and economic cost offsets these gains. The findings demonstrate that optimizing particle size, rather than maximizing fineness, enables a technically robust and industrially realistic use of WGP. This approach supports circular economic strategies and contributes to the decarbonization of the construction sector by identifying an efficient replacement pathway for FA under resource-scarcity conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Concrete with Waste Glass: Valorization and Emerging Technologies)
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29 pages, 7044 KB  
Article
Experimental Characterisation of Translucent High-Performance Concrete Tiles Incorporating Recycled Glass for Architectural Envelopes
by Oriol Paris-Viviana, Paula Martin-Goñi, Andreu Corominas and Oriol Pons-Valladares
Buildings 2026, 16(6), 1163; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings16061163 - 16 Mar 2026
Viewed by 511
Abstract
The construction sector faces environmental challenges related to material consumption, waste generation and energy efficiency. In this context, light-transmitting concrete tiles incorporating recycled glass offer a favourable solution for the construction of lightweight building envelope systems combining circularity, functional performance and design value. [...] Read more.
The construction sector faces environmental challenges related to material consumption, waste generation and energy efficiency. In this context, light-transmitting concrete tiles incorporating recycled glass offer a favourable solution for the construction of lightweight building envelope systems combining circularity, functional performance and design value. This research project developed novel self-compacting high-performance concrete tiles integrating coarse waste-glass aggregates to develop translucent components for use as solar filters. To the authors’ best knowledge there is a gap in the market regarding this type of envelope. Three concrete mixtures were developed, including the reference mix and two waste-glass-based mixtures with different glass contents, colours and nominal size distributions. Concrete tiles with thicknesses between 4 and 20 mm were analysed regarding their overall physical, mechanical, durability and luminous performance. This research paper’s conclusions confirm the suitability of recycled glass concrete tiles for facade applications and support the selection of the minimum viable thickness as a design approach. An optimal thickness of 8 mm was determined, providing the optimal balance between translucency (8–4% light transmittance), structural behaviour (flexural strength > 7 MPa) and durability performance (mass losses < 2.34%). Improving the mechanical performance of slender elements by increasing both the contribution of fibres and matrix–waste bonding are among the future follow-up steps. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Concrete with Waste Glass: Valorization and Emerging Technologies)
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