Recycling Waste Materials in the Construction Field

Dear Colleagues,

Since the demand for using recycled materials in soils, concrete, and mortar is rapidly increasing, many non-conventional materials have been recommended for use in these cementitious materials for sustainability reasons. Some of these materials have often been studied by researchers and used in cement and concrete. Thus, the ultimate goal of this Special Issue is to focus on the less studied non-conventional materials.

This Special Issue of Sustainability is, therefore, dedicated to comprehensive reviews and original studies on the resource use (e.g., non-renewable energy consumption), environmental impacts (e.g., global potential warming), technical performance (e.g., durability and mechanical), and cost of cementitious materials and concrete containing less common non-conventional materials. Additionally, techniques used or any attempts (listed below, though not exhaustively) to reuse recycled materials as a cement replacement and to reduce concrete resource use and environmental impacts are welcome. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Less common non-conventional aggregates (e.g., industrial wastes, insulating aggregates, agricultural wastes, and aquaculture farming and municipal wastes);
• Less common supplementary cementitious materials (e.g., agricultural wastes and aquaculture farming and municipal wastes);
• Alkali activated/geopolymers with less common non-conventional precursors;
• By-product nanomaterials;
• Strengthening systems; 
• Less common non-conventional rebars (e.g., stainless steel rebars, low-carbon chromium reinforcing steel rebars, galvanized rebars, basalt rebars, fiber-reinforced-polymer rebars and bamboo).

Prof. Dr. Ahmed S. Mohammed
Prof. Dr. Aram Hassan
Dr. Hemn Unis Ahmed
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Sustainability 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 2400 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.

• eco-friendly mortars and concrete
• soil stabilization
• mechanical and durability-related properties
• supplementary cementitious materials
• nanomaterials
• unconventional reinforcement
• recycled aggregates
• alkali activation
• natural or by-product fibers
• industrial wastes
• cement waste factories