Microstructure analyses on the effect of incorporating cigarette butts in fired clay bricks
Worldwide, cigarette butts (CBs) are one of the most common types of litter. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that in 2004 over 5.5 trillion cigarettes were produced in the world. This is equivalent to an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of CBs waste per year. These figures are expe...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Published: |
2011
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/1983/ http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/1983/1/Kadir%2C_Aeslina_Abdul__FKAAS_(ICCE19).pdf |
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| Summary: | Worldwide, cigarette butts (CBs) are one of the most
common types of litter. The United States Department
of Agriculture estimates that in 2004 over 5.5 trillion
cigarettes were produced in the world. This is
equivalent to an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of CBs
waste per year. These figures are expected to increase
by more than 50% by 2025, mainly due to an increase
in world population [1]. In Australia alone, an
estimated 25 to 30 billion filtered cigarettes are
smoked each year; of these, an estimated 7 billion are
littered.
CBs accumulate in the environment mainly due to the
poor biodegradability of the cellulose acetate filters.
Filters have long term effects on the urban
environment, especially in waterways and run-offs.
Toxic chemicals trapped in the CB filters can leach,
thus causing serious damage to the environment [2].
Recycling CBs is problematic because there are no
easy mechanisms or procedures to assure efficient and
economical separation and recycling of the entrapped
chemicals. An alternative could be to incorporate CBs
in a sustainable composite building material such as
fired bricks.
Brick is one of the most accommodating masonry
units as a building material due to its properties.
Attempts have been made to incorporate waste in the
production of bricks; for instance, the use of rubber,
limestone dust and wood sawdust, processed waste
tea, fly ash, polystyrene and sludge [3]. Recycling of
such wastes by incorporating them into building
materials is a practical solution to the pollution
problem. In addition, adding carbonaceous industrial
wastes has also been demonstrated to be an efficient
and environmentally advantageous way of reducing
fuel use for brick-making. This paper describes some
of the procedures and results from a study on
incorporating CBs into fired clay bricks. Physical and
mechanical properties of several brick samples with
different CB contents are presented. The main
objective of this paper is to present the microstructure
analyses on the effect of incorporating CBs in the
fired clay bricks. |
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