Physico-mechanical properties and leachate analysis of clay fired bricks incorporated with cigarette butts
Although small in size, indiscriminate littering of cigarette butts (CBs) can cause serious environmental impact. Several trillion cigarettes produced worldwide annually lead to thousands of kilograms of toxic waste. CBs accumulate in the environment due to the poor biodegradability of the cellulose...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Published: |
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/2235/ http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/2235/1/003_AESLINA_ABDUL_KADIR_Malaysia.pdf |
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| Summary: | Although small in size, indiscriminate littering of cigarette butts (CBs) can cause serious
environmental impact. Several trillion cigarettes produced worldwide annually lead to
thousands of kilograms of toxic waste. CBs accumulate in the environment due to the poor
biodegradability of the cellulose acetate filters and, in doing so, they have become the most
common litter item on our planet. This paper presents some of the results from a continuing
study on recycling CBs into fired clay bricks. Physico-mechanical properties of fired clay
bricks manufactured with different percentages of CBs (2.5%, 5% and 10%) and also of
control brick samples are reported and discussed. Furthermore, leaching of heavy metals
from the fabricated clay bricks was tested to investigate whether the leachate values exceed
the regulatory standards. The results show that the density of fired bricks decreased by up to
30 % when CBs were incorporated into the raw materials. The compressive strength of
bricks tested were 12.57, 5.22 and 3.00 MPa for 2.5, 5.0 and 10 % CB content respectively.
The leachate results revealed trace amounts of heavy metals. |
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