World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology

International Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering

Vol:11, No:10, 2017

An Overview of Electronic Waste as Aggregate in

Concrete
S. R. Shamili, C. Natarajan, J. Karthikeyan

 o Similar mechanical properties,

Abstract—Rapid growth of world population and widespread o Workable,
urbanization has remarkably increased the development of the o Cost-effective, and
construction industry which caused a huge demand for sand and o No effect on cement chemistry.
gravels. Environmental problems occur when the rate of extraction of
Electronic waste (E-Waste) is one of the new waste
sand, gravels, and other materials exceeds the rate of generation of
materials that are emerging in the concrete industry. Disposal
International Science Index, Structural and Construction Engineering Vol:11, No:10, 2017 [Link]/Publication/10008124

natural resources; therefore, an alternative source is essential to

replace the materials used in concrete. Now-a-days, electronic of large amounts of E-Waste material can be reused in the
products have become an integral part of daily life which provides concrete industry where it also solves the disposal problem.
more comfort, security, and ease of exchange of information. These Hence, the recycling and reusing of E-Waste in the concrete
electronic waste (E-Waste) materials have serious human health industry is considered as the most feasible application. E-
concerns and require extreme care in its disposal to avoid any adverse
Waste is a serious pollution problem for humans and also the
impacts. Disposal or dumping of these E-Wastes also causes major
issues because it is highly complex to handle and often contains environment. Therefore, some options are needed to be
highly toxic chemicals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, considered, especially on recycling material units. E- Waste is
brominates flame retardants (BFRs), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and a loosely discarded surplus, broken, electrical or electronic
phosphorus compounds. Hence, E-Waste can be incorporated in devices. Rapid technology change and low initial cost have
concrete to make a sustainable environment. This paper deals with resulted in a fast growing surplus of E-Waste around the
the composition, preparation, properties, classification of E-Waste.
globe. Several tonnes of E-Waste need to be disposed per
All these processes avoid dumping to landfills whilst conserving
natural aggregate resources, and providing a better environmental year. E-Waste contains numerous types of substances and
option. This paper also provides a detailed literature review on the chemicals creating serious human health and environment
behaviour of concrete with incorporation of E-Wastes. Many research problems if not handled properly. Fig. 1 shows a view of E-
shows the strong possibility of using E-Waste as a substitute of Waste disposal.
aggregates eventually it reduces the use of natural aggregates in
concrete.

Keywords—Disposal, electronic waste, landfill, toxic chemicals.

I. INTRODUCTION

C ONCRETE is the second most essential material

consumed after water. For many years, efforts have been
made to use industrial by-products such as fly ash, silica fume,
ground granulated blast furnace slag, etc. as admixtures in
concrete constructions. The extraction of natural resources for
construction materials creates environmental problems, and Fig. 1 A pictorial view of E-Waste (Courtesy Google) [12]
therefore, attention is being focused on the environment and
safeguarding of natural resources and recycling of waste II. SOURCES OF E-WASTE
materials.  IT and Telecom equipment
Gaps in the current scenario:  Large household appliances
o Shortage of river sand,  Small household appliances
o Skyrocketing cost of construction materials,  Consumer and lighting equipment
o Increasing environmental concern, and  Electrical and electronic tools
o Adaptation of unscrupulous practices.  Toys and sports equipments
Therefore, a substitute is required with  Medical devices
o Similar grain size,  Monitoring and control instruments
Printed circuit boards (PCB) are one of the electronic
S. R. Shamili (Research scholar) is with the National Institute of devices. PCB contains about 30% metals and 70% non-metals
Technology, Tiruchirapalli, India- 620015 (phone: +91 861 079 2647; e-mail: waste. It is classified into three groups, namely organic, metals
[Link]@[Link]).
C. Natarajan (professor) and J. Karthikeyan (Assistant Professor) are with and ceramic. The organic group in PCB consists of plastics
the Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, with flame retardants and paper. The metallic group in PCB
Tiruchirapalli, India- 620015 (e-mail: nataraj@[Link], jk@[Link]).

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 11(10) 2017 1444 [Link]/1307-6892/10008124
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering
Vol:11, No:10, 2017

contains a large amount of base metals like copper, iron, transferring of E-Waste to treatment plants. However, landfill
aluminium and also contains precious metallic components is not an environment friendly technique for disposing the E-
like tantalum, gallium, silver and palladium. Ceramic in PCBs Waste as it contains some of the toxic substances like
consists of silica and alumina. It also includes alkaline earth cadmium, mercury and lead. This can very often lead to
oxides, mica and barium. In PCB, generally hazardous ground water contamination.
components like chromium, lead, beryllium, mercury and
B. Incineration
cadmium are also present. Metals are sent to recovery
operations and non-metals can be reused [5]. Fig. 2 shows the It is a controlled way of disposing of E-Waste and involves
percentage generation of E-Waste in India. a complete combustion process. In this technique, the waste
materials are burned in specially designed incinerators at a
high temperature of 900 ˚C – 1000 ˚C. This E-Waste disposal
method is advantageous where it reduces the volume of waste
to a greater extent and the energy obtained is also utilized. The
major disadvantage of this technique is the emission of
harmful gases to the environment.
International Science Index, Structural and Construction Engineering Vol:11, No:10, 2017 [Link]/Publication/10008124

C. Acid Baths
This method involves the process of soaking the E-Waste to
concentrate of sulphuric, hydrochloric and nitric acid solution.
This helps to free the metals from electronic pathways. The
retrieved metals are used in the manufacturing of other
products.
D. Reuse
Fig. 2 Percentage generation of E-Waste in India (Courtesy Google)
[13] Reuse is a quite common technique where it constitutes
direct second hand use or use after slight modifications to the
III. COMPOSITION OF E-WASTE original functioning equipment. This includes computers,
mobile phones and other electronic equipment. It is estimated
Most hazardous toxic materials present in E-Waste are
that 3%-5% of the computers that have been designated
silica, lead, barium, cadmium, aluminium, ferrous. The
surplus by their users are reused.
percentage composition of E-Waste is shown in Fig. 3.
E. Recycling
30% In the recycling technique, the old raw materials are
25%
recovered in making new products. However, the costs of
recycling of E-Wastes are high. Due to the scarcity of land, the
20% dumping of E-Waste has become a major issue and it is
15% difficult to get new dumping sites. Therefore, recycling is the
best possible option for the management of E-Waste.
10%
5% V. RECYCLING PROCESS OF E-WASTE
Fig. 4 shows a schematic representation of the recycling
0%
Si Plastics Fe Al Cu, Zn, process of E-Waste. E-Waste components are collected and
Hg, Cd segregation is done. Glass waste and hazardous waste are
separated. Shredding is a process in which it reduces and
Fig. 3 Percentage composition of E-Waste (Courtesy Google) [14] separates component materials such as plastic, aluminium,
copper, steel and precious metals.
IV. METHOD OF E-WASTE DISPOSAL E-Waste such as PCBs can be crushed to coarse grain
There are some of the methods for the disposal of E-Waste: particles using a jaw crusher then fine pulverizing is done to
 Landfill make as a fine powder. This can be achieved with the
 Incineration cryogenic grinding method. In this method, samples are made
 Reuse brittle and pulverized through crushing, shearing or impact
 Recycling actions. Electrostatic separation is a process in which it
separates the insoluble mixtures resulting with the separation
A. Landfill of metals and non-metals. Metals can be recovered and non-
Landfill is a technique where trenches are made on the metals can be reused.
surfaces. Soil is excavated from the trenches and waste
materials are buried in it, and it is covered with clay which
acts as thick impervious layer. It is done for the collection and

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 11(10) 2017 1445 [Link]/1307-6892/10008124
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering
Vol:11, No:10, 2017

effectively be used as fine aggregate replacement up to 40%

without substantial change in strength. The optimum
replacement level of waste glass as fine aggregate was found
to be 10%.
Lakshmi and Nagan [4] studied on the utilization of E-
Waste as coarse aggregate in concrete. It is experimented with
replacement level of 0% to 30%, and the mechanical
properties of concrete were observed and exhibited a good
strength gain. The addition of fly ash in the concrete mix
considerably improves the strength for control mix as well as
E-Waste concrete.
Zheng et al. [11] studied the properties of flexure and
Fig. 4 Schematic representation of E-Waste recycling fracture behaviour of polypropylene composites. It is observed
that the flexural strength and flexural modulus of the
VI. PAST STUDIES
International Science Index, Structural and Construction Engineering Vol:11, No:10, 2017 [Link]/Publication/10008124

composites can be successfully enhanced by filling non-metals

Alagusankareswari et al. [3] experimented with E-Waste as recycled from waste PCB into polypropylene (PP). By using
a replacement material for fine aggregate. The rate of strength scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the influence of non-
attainment of control mix, E10, E20, E30 was observed. The metals on fracture behaviour of PP composites is evaluated by
compressive strength and split tensile strength of concrete in-situ flexural test.
pertaining to E-Waste aggregate is slightly less in comparison Chen et al. [2] demonstrated the replacement of E-glass
with the control mix concrete sample. It can be consumed as waste in concrete as fine aggregate. Replacement at the 40%
light weight aggregate because the self-weight of the concrete level shows compressive strength as 17%, 27% and 43%
decreases with the increase in percentage of E-Waste. higher than control concrete at the ages of 28 days, 91 days
Ahirwar et al. [9] stated that the workability of concrete and 365 days, respectively. It is also observed that the E-
increases when the percentage of E-Waste increases. The Waste particles act as crack resistors in concrete.
workability of fly ash with E-Waste concrete gives better
results than conventional concrete. The compressive strength VII. PROPERTIES OF E-WASTE
of concrete decreased with increase in percentage of E-Waste.  Physical properties
It has been observed, when cement is replaced by fly ash in  Workability properties
concrete with E-Waste as a coarse aggregate, its compressive  Strength properties
strength is increased. Cement with 30% of fly ash replacement
shows a better result. A. Physical Properties
Vivek et al. [10] stated that 7.5% of fine aggregate replaced 1. Crushing Test
by E-Waste gives optimum results of compressive strength.
Electronic waste has more resistance to wear and tear than
The compressive strength of concrete is gradually decreased
natural aggregate.
when fine aggregate are replaced beyond 15% with E-Waste.
Suchithra et al. [8] stated that the addition of E-Waste 2. Impact Test
shows better compressive strength up to 15% replacement. E- It is the good indicator of strength and durability. Electronic
Waste has more pronounced effect on the flexural strength waste has wide difference of impact and crushing value, where
than the split tensile strength. Also, the results of the durability the aggregates of E-Waste are stronger than that of natural
study show that sulphate attack and chloride attack do not aggregate.
affect the strength of concrete and the optimum mix was found
to be more durable than the control mix. 3. Abrasion Test
Nagajothi and Felixkala [6] reported that up to 2.5% The abrasion value of natural coarse aggregate is much
replacement of E-fibre waste in concrete gives twice the higher than electronic waste.
compressive strength as compared to the control mix. The
TABLE I
compressive strength increased constantly with the addition of PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF E-WASTE [4]
E-fibre waste. S. No Property Result
Arora and Dave [1] studied the low amount replacement of 1 Specific gravity 1.01
fine aggregate by E-Wastes in mortars. They concluded that 2 Water absorption <0.2
4% replacement of E-Waste as fine aggregate in mortars gives 3 Colour White & Dark
acceptable strength gain. 4 Shape Angular
Gautam et al. [7] studied the use of glass waste as fine 5 Crushing Value <2%
aggregate in concrete. Replacement of 20% glass waste as fine 6 Impact value <2%
aggregate in concrete, gives better strength results at 28 days.
Marginal decrease in strength was observed at the 30% to 40% Table I shows the physical properties of E-Waste. Table II
replacement level. This study indicated that waste glass can shows the workability properties of E-Waste. Table III shows

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 11(10) 2017 1446 [Link]/1307-6892/10008124
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering
Vol:11, No:10, 2017

the properties compressive strength of concrete. the self weight of concrete.

 Workability of concrete decreases when percentage of the
B. Workability Properties
E-Waste is increased.
1. Slump Cone Test  Mechanical properties of concrete with E-Waste as
Table II shows the slump value in mm with different aggregate shows slightly lesser than the controlled mix.
percentages of E-Waste. Results indicate that there is a
decreasing trend of workability with the increase in E-Waste. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
S. R. Shamili, C. Natarajan, J. Karthikeyan would like to
TABLE II
WORKABILITY PROPERTIES OF E-WASTE [15] pay regards to National Institute of Technology Tiruchirapalli
Replacement of fine Slump value and extend our thanks to Director, National Institute of
S. No
aggregate with E-Waste in % in mm Technology Tiruchirapalli for their constant support.
1 0 50
2 5 48 REFERENCES
3 10 40
[1] A. Arora and U. Dave, “Utilization of e- waste and plastic bottle waste
International Science Index, Structural and Construction Engineering Vol:11, No:10, 2017 [Link]/Publication/10008124

4 15 36 in concrete”, International Journal of Students Research in Technology

5 20 31 & Management, 1(4), 2013, 398-406.
[2] C. Chen, R. Hwang, J. Wu and C. Yang, Waste E-glass particles used in
C. Strength Properties cementious mixtures, Cement and Concrete Research, 36, 2006, 449-56.
[3] K. Alagusankareswari, S. Sandeep Kumar, K. B. Vignesh and K. Abdul
1. Strength Hameed Niyas (2016) “An Experimental Study on E-Waste Concrete”,
Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 9(2), DOI: 10.17485.
Ahirwar et al. [9] experimented with different proportions [4] Lakshmi. R and Nagan. S (2010) “studies on concrete containing E-
of E-Waste, and the compressive strength for 7 days, 14 days, plastic waste” Internal Journal of Environmental Sciences Vol. 1 (3).
and 28 days were determined. Table III shows the [5] Mukesh U. Donadkar Prof. S. S. Solanke (2016) “Review of E-Waste
Material used in Making of Concrete” IJSTE - International Journal of
compressive strength of E-Waste with different proportions. Science Technology&EngineeringVol2 Issue 07.
Results indicate that there is an increasing trend of [6] P. Gomathi Nagajothi, and T. Felixkala, “Compressive Strength of
compressive strength with increase in the age of the concrete Concrete Incorporated with E-fiber Waste”, International Journal of
Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, 4(4), 2014, 23-28.
specimens. However, it shows that the compressive strength of [7] S. P. Gautam, Vikas Srivastava and V. C. Agarwal (2012) “Use of glass
E-Waste specimens is lower than normal aggregate specimens. wastes as fine aggregate in Concrete” Journal of Academia and
Industrial Research Vol. 1(6).
TABLE III [8] Suchithra, Manoj Kumar, Indu V. S. (2015) “Study on Replacement of
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF E-WASTE [9] Coarse Aggregate by E-Waste in concrete”. International Journal of
S. No E-Waste % Compressive strength Technical Research and Applications Vol 3 Issue 04.
[9] Sunil Ahirwar, Pratiksha Malviya, Vikash Patidar, Vikash Kumar Singh
7days 14days 28days (2016) “An Experimental Study on Concrete by using E- Waste as
1 0 31.46 37.155 42.85 Partial Replacement for Course Aggregate” IJSTE - International
2 5 30.91 35.71 40.51 Journal of Science Technology & Engineering Vol 3 Issue 04.
3 10 30.26 34.84 39.42 [10] Vivek S, Damal, Saurabh S. Londhe, Ajinkya B. Mane (2015)
“Utilization of Electronic Waste Plastic in Concrete” Int. Journal of
4 15 29.32 33.085 36.85 Engineering Research and Applications ISSN: 2248-9622, Vol. 5, Issue
5 20 27.12 32.995 38.87 4, (Part-2) April 2015, pp. 35-38.
6 25 26.78 31.775 36.77 [11] Yanhong Zheng Zhigang Shen, Chujiang Cai, Shulin Ma, Yushan Xing
7 30 25.92 30.665 35.41 (2008) Influence of non-metals recycled from waste printed circuit
boards on flexural properties and fracture behavior of polypropylene
composites. Materials and Design.
VIII. SUMMARY AND INFERENCES [12] [Link]
cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiYvOT1wLPVAhXEx7wKHdO
 Recycling of E-Waste is not just a viable solution to VAjMQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fall-
eliminate the harmful effects of disposal, but a sound [Link]%2F2017%2Fppics-pile-of-electronic-Accessed on
business proposition in itself. 31/7/2017.
[13] [Link]&psig=AFQjCNGvoW5qttaN-
 Disposal of untreated E-Waste in landfills causes major xZ3_qLLmuvIMpBC3g&ust=1501590032633769Accessed on
health and environment hazards. Therefore, recycling of 31/7/2017.
E-Waste becomes a major beneficial effect. [14] [Link]
cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj1zO-
 By recycling these E-Wastes, landfill space can be PybPVAhUBLY8KHQaLDRgQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.
conserved. [Link]%2Fpin%2F140667188331137732%2F&psig=AFQjCNFf-
 Materials obtained through recycling can be re-used as qD1nfPnJ-IeTGvwaE2w-fFnMw&ust=1501592178169297Accessed on
31/7/2017.
raw material where it reduces the consumption of [15] [Link]
manufacturing fresh materials. Waste&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjgpYH_h_rVA
From the results of the literature review, it is evident that E- hXHr48KHd4wBWAQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=613#imgrc=NSttR
wHnti3upM: Accessed on 28/8/17.
Waste can be used in concrete as aggregate both fine and
coarse. It is concluded that,
 It can be consumed as light weight aggregate in concrete.
S. R. Shamili born on June 14- 1992 in Namakal, Tamil Nadu. Graduated her
 Increase in percentage of E-Waste leads to reduction in Under graduation (2013) in Oxford Engineering College, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 11(10) 2017 1447 [Link]/1307-6892/10008124
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering
Vol:11, No:10, 2017

Nadu under Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Graduated her Post
graduation (2015) degree in B. S. Abdur Rahman University, Chennai.
Currently pursuing PhD in National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli,
Tamil Nadu. Major field of study is Structural Engineering.
She was working as Assistant Professor in Periyar Maniammai University,
vallam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu for one year.
“Construction and demolition waste and E-Waste”. Ms. S. R. Shamili

C. Natarajan holds PhD in Structural Engineering from IIT Chennai. He is a

Professor of Civil Engineering Department at National Institute of
Technology, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. His research interests include
Forensic Engineering and Concrete materials.

J. Karthikeyan holds PhD in Structural Engineering from IIT Rourkee. He is

a Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering Department at National Institute of
Technology, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. His research interests include
Prestressed concrete bridges, Long span bridges and advancements in concrete
technology and materials.
International Science Index, Structural and Construction Engineering Vol:11, No:10, 2017 [Link]/Publication/10008124

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 11(10) 2017 1448 [Link]/1307-6892/10008124