Comparison of Physical and Engineering Properties of Recycled and Natural Sand for Engineering Applications

Due to rapid urbanization and improved construction activities in many developing countries and other metropolitan areas, the accumulation of demolition waste from construction demolitions in landfills is a worldwide issue. Demolition waste has a verse effect on the environment due to landfill and maintenance issues. The recycled sand employed in the study was obtained from a Construction and Demolition (C&D) processing plant situated in Hyderabad, India. Extensive physical and engineering characterization was performed on recycled sand. It is crucial to ascertain whether recycled sand can be utilized as a sustainable replacement for natural sand in order to ensure the efficiency and safety of constructions. The results show that the engineering characterization is high for recycled sand when compared with the test results for natural sand. The present study shows the technical suitability of recycled sand to use as backfill material in various engineering applications from a structural stability and performance point of view in reducing the demand for natural sand, which is often extracted from riverbeds and quarries. Using recycled sand in various engineering applications led to be an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach.