Potential use of Recycled/Secondary Aggregates in Geotechnical Engineering

The amount of primary aggregates, a finite and non-renewable resource, used annually in Europe is in the Gigatonne range, whilst more than a Gigatonne of wastes are landfilled each year. Hence reducing these figures by embracing the use of alternative materials, which would normally be landfilled, could have significant, sustainable benefits to the UK economy and environment. Recycled aggregates, or secondary aggregates (created via various processes), created from waste streams have the potential to act as a sustainable alternative to primary aggregates (won from quarries) in many geotechnical engineering applications but uptake, whilst increasing, is still relatively low. The proposed study would utilise an experimental investigation to study the geotechnical properties of selected recycled/secondary aggregates and determine if these materials would be suitable for various geotechnical engineering applications in the place of primary materials. It is hoped that better understanding of material performance of these alternative materials would help promote a more sustainable approach to geotechnical engineering and contribute to the uptake of the circular economy.

Informal enquires can be sent to Dr Alexander Royal ([Email Address Removed]) or Professor Ian Jefferson ([Email Address Removed]) and in the first instance should contain a covering letter and a CV.