Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Cleaner Materials
journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/cleaner-materials

A comprehensive review on the use of recycled concrete aggregate for

pavement construction: Properties, performance, and sustainability
Ebenezer O. Fanijo a, *, John Temitope Kolawole b, Adewumi John Babafemi c, Jian Liu d
a
School of Building Construction, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA.
b
School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, UK
c
Department of Civil Engineering, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
d
Department of Civil Engineering, VA Tech, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Using recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) for pavements is crucial to achieving sustainability. Implementing RCA
Recycled concrete aggregates for new pavement can minimize carbon footprint, conserve natural resources, reduce harmful emissions, and
Sustainability lower life cycle costs. Compared to natural aggregate (NA), RCA pavement has fewer comprehensive studies and
Engineering properties
sustainability assessments. This study presents a state-of-the-art review on the utilization of RCA for pavement
Life cycle assessment
RCA inclusion and recovery
construction, with a large scope originating from a comprehensive literature dissection. The study compares RCA
and NA pavement’s physical, chemical, mechanical, and durability properties. As reported, their properties
highly depend on the methods, the extent of crushing, the amount of adhered paste and the residual mortar with
which the RCA is produced. Pavement performance was conducted from three perspectives: the use of RCA for
pavement sublayers, rigid layers, and flexible layers, as well as their separate evaluation test techniques. A
comparative environmental evaluation revealed that the RCA inclusion contributes to sustainability gain in
minimizing the health hazards effect, waste generation, and the pressure on landfill sites than conventional
pavement construction.

1. Introduction employment (Kinfemichael and Morshed, 2019; Market et al., 2016).

Globally, the unabated extraction of natural resources without
recourse to a circular economy has wreaked havoc on the environment.
As a result, natural resources are depleted, resulting in increased
pollution and solid waste generation, endangering biodiversity and ul­
timately contributing to global warming (Zhong and Wu, 2015). For
example, due to global warming, the sea level rose at an average rate of
1.8 mm per year in 1960 to 3.1 mm per year in 1993 (Edenhofer, 2015;
Metz et al., 2007). Global warming is caused by significant greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions from human-caused activities (Edenhofer, 2015;
Wu and Low, 2012). Furthermore, the solid waste generated by com­
mercial, industrial, and all other forms of anthropogenic activity poses a
significant threat to human health and habitation, as well as to animals,
plants, and water bodies (Akhtar and Sarmah, 2018; Rahman et al.,
2014; Wang et al., 2018).
The construction sector is one of the most vibrant industries globally,
generating about 7% and 9% of the United States and European Union’s
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), respectively, and over 15% of total
The industry also plays an essential role in the urbanization and devel­
opment of global cities. However, the exponential increase in urbani­
zation and industrialization due to population and economic growth in
recent decades has rendered the construction sector the most unsus­
tainable, consuming significant natural resources (Behera et al., 2014).
For instance, reports indicate that the sector consumed 26 billion tons of
material resources in 2016 and that consumption is expected to double
over the next two decades. (Oikonomou, 2005; Sonawane and Pimpli­
kar, 2013). Mehta and Meryman (Mehta and Meryman, 2009) also re­
ported that approximately 25 billion tons of raw materials are utilized
annually, and more than 28 billion metric tons of concrete are consumed
annually (Mehta and Meryman, 2009).
The construction sector also imposes a very high quantity of solid
waste on the environment during the construction and after the service
life of structures (Kisku et al., 2017; Shi et al., 2019). Thus, making the
construction industry a major contributor to the global carbon footprint
(Santero et al., 2011). According to Anit et al., the concrete industry
generates approximately 50% of total construction waste from a large

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ebenfanijo@gatech.edu (E.O. Fanijo), J.T.Kolawole@lboro.ac.uk (J.T. Kolawole), ajbabafemi@sun.ac.za (A.J. Babafemi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clema.2023.100199
Received 19 December 2022; Received in revised form 17 July 2023; Accepted 23 July 2023
Available online 26 July 2023
2772-3976/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
E.O. Fanijo et al.
number of natural resources (Anik et al., 1996). In that waste generated
from concrete is a major part of construction and demolition waste.
Arabani and Azarhoosh reported that nearly 75% and 70% of global
construction and demolition (C&D) sites, respectively, are wastes from
concrete, with the concrete industry being the most unsustainable sector
due to the wastes disposal into landfills (Arabani and Azarhoosh, 2012)
(Fig. 1).
As a result, numerous researchers and construction agencies have
focused on minimizing the construction industry’s environmental
impact, energy consumption, and increased CO2 intensity, thereby
promoting sustainable development. As a result, one of the most
resourceful and promising paths to sustainable development is the
practice of recycling and reusing construction waste. (Jin et al., 2017;
Menaria and Sankhla, 2015; Shi et al., 2019). Aggregate utilized for
construction remains the most construction and demolition (C&D)
waste, contributing 85% to the total waste generated (Tam et al., 2018).
Hence, the reuse and recycling of aggregates can be very beneficial for
sustainability purposes. For example, during highway construction, the
demolished concrete from the concrete pavement can be crushed, and
the recovered aggregate materials can be reused for constructing the
same pavement (either concrete or asphalt) or recycled into new pave­
ment construction (Albayati et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2016a). Such
aggregates are known as recycled concrete aggregates (RCA). The uti­
lization of RCA in structural applications has been proven to be a
common practice. It has proven effective in some mix designs and per
cent replacement modification forms. However, their use in pavement
construction has not been fully practised due to the uncertainties in the
characterization, method of recovery, properties, and sustainability gain
over a long period. Also, regarding the performance of RCA in pavement
construction, there are broad disparities and no consistency in the
literature on the optimum RCA content required for pavement
construction.
In this regard, this study aims to systematically review the current
state of knowledge on the use of RCA in highway pavement construc­
tion. This study examines the literature on the properties of RCA and its
broad application; consequently, the review’s scope and content are
quite extensive. One of the significant factors influencing the utilization
and application of RCA in pavement construction is its properties; thus,
this study begins by attempting to characterize RCA in general and the
properties of the RCA pavement. Various discoveries and recommen­
dations from the literature on the most recent approaches for achieving a
comparable or superior performance of RCA pavement to that of natural
Fig. 1. A typical composition of construction and demolition wastes (Arabani and Azarhoosh, 2012).
2
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
aggregates (NA) pavement are also discussed. RCA’s performance and
applications for different pavement’s layers depend on the recovery
process they undergo. For instance, residual adhered mortars on the RCA
surface have been reported to significantly influence RCA performance
(Verian, 2012; Verian et al., 2018). It was, therefore, necessary to
highlight the recovery methods and inclusion approaches adaptable for
RCA.
Additionally, the goal of using RCA is sustainability, thus, a review of
the potential (environmental) sustainable gains associated with using
RCA in pavement construction was conducted. This will eventually
provide data on the sustainability and implementation advantages of
RCA. Moreover, the applications of RCA as construction materials and
future research needs for RCA were highlighted.
A literature search for existing reviews on pavement containing RCA
was initially conducted to give context to the contribution of this study,
and about five notable reviews were found (Kisku et al., 2017; McNeil
and Kang, 2013; Nedeljković et al., 2021; Nwakaire et al., 2020a; Tam
et al., 2018). The next section summarizes them, highlighting their
scopes and limitations and gaps to be filled. This study is intended to
become the state-of-the-art appraisal of data and research related to RCA
utilization for pavement construction, hence, demonstrating the
uniqueness in contribution to the general body of knowledge.
1.1. Contribution and significance of the study
Arguably, the first review paper on the reuse of RCA was in 2013 by
McNeil and Kang (McNeil and Kang, 2013), which discusses the prop­
erties of RCA, the effects of RCA on concrete material properties, and the
large-scale impact of RCA on structural members. However, the review
did not precisely dissect the RCA recovery methodologies and ideal RCA
inclusion in new pavement construction. Additionally, aspects of RCA’s
potential in carbon reduction or sustainability were not covered, and
only a few research articles were considered.
Kisku et al. and Tam et al. published review papers in 2017 and 2018,
respectively (Kisku et al., 2017; Tam et al., 2018). Kisku et al. provided
an account of the properties of concrete prepared with RCA and its
suitability for construction. The durability and mechanical properties of
RCA relative to conventional concrete were reviewed. However, the
scope of the review did not cover the environmental sustainability of
using RCA, nor were the physical and chemical properties of RCA and
performance application discussed. While Tam et al. reviewed the
literature on the production and utilization of RCA and other C&D waste
E.O. Fanijo et al.
and some discussion on CO2 emissions reduction, no extensive work on
the sustainability approach or pavement properties, including RCA, was
conducted.
Nwakaire et al. recently published a comprehensive review article
titled “Utilization of recycled concrete aggregates for sustainable high­
way pavement applications” (Nwakaire et al., 2020a). However, the
study was limited to RCA’s physical and chemical properties and utili­
zation of pavement layers. Therefore, despite being the main review
study on the sustainability of RCA, the study did not cover LCA for the
environmental benefits of pavement containing RCA. Furthermore, few
research studies were considered to characterize RCA and pavement
performance containing RCA. Hence, from their study, clinical conclu­
sions and recommendations cannot be made on RCA-pavement’s per­
formance compared to NA-pavement. Additionally, the review did not
focus on the recovery and optimized extent of RCA inclusion and mea­
sures of ensuring adequate performance of RCA-pavement comparable
to NA-pavement. Another recent study by Nedeljkovic et al. only
considered the physical and chemical properties, engineering proper­
ties, and durability of concrete made with fine fractions of RCA. Again,
the review did not focus on the application of RCA for different pave­
ment layers and the sustainability benefit of RCA (Nedeljković et al.,
2021).
As the literature on RCA currently stands, published reviews are
limited in scope and number. Therefore, the current review is intended
to exhaustively dissect the literature (which explains its vast scope,
content, and coverage) to complement and fill the gaps in existing re­
views. It is also envisaged that it will serve as state-of-the-art on RCA-
related research for pavement construction.
2. Characterization of RCA for pavement construction
Given the significant amount of aggregates used in pavement con­
struction, it is critical to discuss how the aggregate properties affect
pavement performance. As illustrated in Fig. 2, aggregates comprise a
significant portion of conventional pavement construction, making up
80 – 85% of concrete pavement and 60 – 75% of asphalt pavement (Van
Dam et al., 2015). Understanding the properties of the aggregate itself
could determine how RCA performed compared to NA used in pavement
construction. Thus, this section illustrates the various properties of RCA
compared to NA, as reported in various studies. RCA’s physical, chem­
ical, and mechanical properties are all discussed in this section. The
main physical properties were discussed: mortar content, density,
aggregate shape and gradation, porosity, water absorption, and aggre­
gate resistance to crushing and abrasion.
2.1. Physical properties of RCA
RCA is produced by crushing existing concrete and then utilized as
aggregates in pavement construction. The RCA comprises 60% to 75% of
aggregates (both coarse and fine) and 25% to 35% of adhered mortar
Fig. 2. Volume percentages of material components for typical (a) asphalt and (b) concrete pavement. Figure reproduced form (Van Dam et al., 2015).
3
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
produced from crushed concrete waste (Verian, 2012; Verian et al.,
2018). RCA produced takes on various shapes and dimensions depend­
ing on the method and extent of crushing (Güneyisi et al., 2014). Like­
wise, the primary concrete’s strength from which the RCA is being
produced also influences the performance properties of the RCA (Spaeth
and Tegguer, 2013). Thus, some RCA properties may differ from those of
NA.
2.1.1. Mortar content
It has been reported that some old mortars naturally adhere to the
surface of the original aggregates during the RCA production process,
becoming a part of the RCA product (Verian, 2012; Verian et al., 2018).
Table 1 presented the categorized adhered mortar on the RCA surface for
varied per cent. Most of the per cent of mortar reclaimed reported and
employed in the literature is limited between 20 and 30%, limiting the
void present and producing a quality pavement strength. However, at a
larger per cent of adhered mortar, a lighter system in the RCA of created
due to highly porous and less dense mortar than the NA. Furthermore, it
produces more extensive aggregate-paste interfaces, referred to as the
interfacial transition zone (ITZ). This zone is a weaker area in concrete
where potential failure in concrete might occur. It has been reported that
concrete made with RCA possesses larger ITZ than conventional con­
crete due to the presence of previous ITZ of aggregate-old mortar (old
ITZ) and old mortar-new mortar bonding (new ITZ) (Fig. 3).
According to Le et al. and Leite and Monteiro, the strength of RCA
can be influenced by the strength of the old ITZ within the RCA, the new
ITZ between the old and new mortars, or between the new mortar and
the NA (Le et al., 2017; Leite and Monteiro, 2016), the new mortar’s
mechanical performance, or the RCA’s intrinsic mechanical properties.
However, the weak link also depends on the strength between the old
ITZ and the new ITZ (Xiao et al., 2012). Therefore, several researchers
have evaluated the amount of old mortars that adhered to the surface of
RCA (Leite and Monteiro, 2016; Verian, 2012; Verian et al., 2018; Xiao
et al., 2012). For instance, Verian and Verian et al. examined the cross-
section of RCA using an optical microscope to determine the percentage
of old mortar that adhered to the RCA (Verian, 2012; Verian et al.,
Table 1
Different percentages of old mortars reclaimed from RCA.
Amount of adhered Reference
old mortar
10–––20% (Roesler et al., 2013)
20–––30% (Le et al., 2017) (Afroughsabet et al., 2017), (Etxeberria
et al., 2010, 2007), (Afroughsabet et al., 2017), (Roesler
et al., 2013), (Afroughsabet et al., 2017)
31 – 40% (Edil, 2017), (Roesler et al., 2013), (Afroughsabet et al.,
2017)
41 – 50% (Liu et al., 2011), (Pickel, 2014), (Pickel et al., 2017), (
Verian, 2012; Verian et al., 2013)
51% - (Edil, 2017)
E.O. Fanijo et al.
Fig. 3. Schematic of both old and new ITZ in concrete (().
adapted from Verian et al., 2018
2013). As a result, it was reported that approximately 29% of old mor­
tars stocked to the surface of RCA. Since the presence of old mortar on
RCA influences its physical properties and invariably the performance of
RCA pavement, adequate care must be taken to ensure the proper
removal of old mortar.
2.1.2. Specific gravity and absorption
Fig. 4 illustrates the number of studies that reported the value of
specific gravity and absorption capacity of RCA versus NA. Generally,
RCA has lower specific gravity compared to NA. As shown in Fig. 4a, the
specific gravity of RCA ranges between 1.2–––2.6 while that of NA varies
majorly between 2.4–––3.0 (with few exemptions from research where
the specific gravity of NA was found to be 1.4–1.6). The old cement paste
(mortar) adhering to the RCA surface is less dense, reducing specific
gravity than was recorded for many NA utilized in numerous research
(Verian, 2012; Verian et al., 2018, Verian et al., 2013). The adhered
mortar of RCA is lightweight compared to NA of the same volume, which
causes a decrease in the density of RCA.
Fig. 4. Frequency and normal distribution of (a) Specific gravity, (b) absorption capacity of NA and RCA, (c) correlation between specific gravity and absorption
capacity of NA and RCA from literature considered (data available in the Appendix).
4
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
Furthermore, numerous studies have also reported that the RCA has
a higher absorption capacity than NA. The higher absorption capacity of
RCA was due to the presence of old mortar adhered to the surface, which
is more porous than the NA (Verian, 2012; Verian et al., 2018, Verian
et al., 2013). As shown in Fig. 4b, the absorption capacity of RCA was
predominantly found between 4–––6% compared to 1–2% for the NA.
Therefore, the aggregates’ specific gravity and water absorption are
primary criteria for a proper concrete mix design. These characteristics
show the proportion of RCA that should be utilized in concrete mixes,
providing an adequate judgment for using RCA (Etxeberria et al., 2007;
McNeil and Kang, 2013).
Furthermore, the correlation between the absorption capacity and
specific gravity from the literature considered is displayed in Fig. 4c.
From the plot, the higher specific gravity values correlate well with the
lower absorption capacity values for both NA and RCA. This relationship
demonstrated the characteristics of RCA concrete compared to concrete
made with NA for the performance of highway pavement (McNeil and
Kang, 2013).
2.1.3. Crushing and LA abrasion
The crushing and Los Angeles (LA) abrasion tests are utilized to
characterize the durability of aggregates. In practice, the abrasion test
presents the mass loss (in per cent) experienced by aggregates during the
impact of steel balls. A general trend is that the NA has lower crushing
and LA abrasion values than the RCA from the studies considered. The
LA abrasion results of RCA compared to NA by numerous researchers are
plotted in Fig. 5 (data available in the Appendix). The LA abrasion mass
loss of RCA particles predominantly ranges from 10 to 60% to 10 – 40%
mass loss of NA particles. This result showed that the impacted steel
balls on RCA produced finer particle break-off than NA. The residual
mortar and the cracked particles left during the crushing process
resulted in a higher mass loss of RCA particles (Snyder et al., 1994;
E.O. Fanijo et al. Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199

Medina et al., 2014; Sohail et al., 2020; Xiao et al., 2012). This indicates
that RCA has an acceptable gradation according to relevant standards.

2.2. Chemical properties of RCA

The chemical composition of RCA has been widely reported in the

literature, and the per cent average of oxide composition in RCA
compared to NA is presented in Fig. 7. About nine studies were
considered for the chemical characterization of RCA and NA (Aydilek,
2015; Bui et al., 2017; Medina et al., 2014, 2012; Moreno-Pérez et al.,
2018; Saravanakumar et al., 2016; Sohail et al., 2020; Yang and Lim,
2018; Zhu et al., 2013). The chemical composition as presented from
each study cited is available in the Appendix. Similar to the physical
properties, the chemical composition of RCA also varies considerably.
This disparity is associated with the cement and aggregate composition
from parent crushed concrete and adhered cement paste characteristics
Fig. 5. Frequency and normal distribution of abrasion value of RCA and NA (contamination, deterioration) (Katz, 2003). As shown in Fig. 7, the
(data available in the Appendix). principal chemical oxides in RCA are silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3), and
ferrite (Fe2O3). Other principal metallic oxides include calcium (CaO)
Verian et al., 2018). The old mortar can easily break off at the ITZ, while and potassium (K2O). Small quantities of sulfates and alkalis are also
NA does not have a similar coating to lose (McNeil and Kang, 2013). present.
The behavior of RCA during the abrasion tests demonstrates the For both aggregates, SiO2, which comes from natural rocks (granites)
weakness of the old mortar adhered to the surface. Since this layer is the and clay, possessed the highest oxides (more than 50%), with the NA
most likely to break off, it is predicted that this mortar layer could also richer in SiO2 than RCA. It is worth noting that the composition of CaO
lead to a weak connection within the concrete (McNeil and Kang, 2013). in RCA was much higher than that of NA (Aydilek, 2015; Moreno-Pérez
The data analyzed for Figs. 4 and 5 of the specific gravity absorption et al., 2018; Yang and Lim, 2018). Moreno-Perez et al. used both X-ray
capacity and LA abrasion is in the Appendix. Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to evaluate the chemical
composition of RCA from different C&D waste (Moreno-Pérez et al.,
2.1.4. Aggregate shape and gradation 2018). They concluded that the higher CaO in RCA is due to the
The shape and gradation of aggregates influence the workability of enrichment with calcium by the amount of the adhered mortar and
concrete, making RCA shapes and particle size distribution important absorbed cement binder in the RCA. Angulo et al. also drew a similar
properties in pavement construction (McNeil and Kang, 2013). A typical
aggregate particle of RCA after crushing is shown in Fig. 6. The method
of RCA production and the type of crusher utilized during the process
enormously impact the shape of the RCA (Etxeberria et al., 2007;
Pasandín and Pérez, 2015; Rueda Páramo, 2011). The NA is typically
angular with smooth sides, whereas the RCA is a more rounded spherical
shape that has been shown to improve workability (Etxeberria et al.,
2007; McNeil and Kang, 2013; Sagoe-Crentsil et al., 2001). The shape of
RCA is due to the presence of the residual cement paste, which allows for
a better flow of new mortar around the aggregate (Fig. 6) (Etxeberria
et al., 2007; McNeil and Kang, 2013; Rueda Páramo, 2011). Pasandin
and Perez also reported that RCA contains fewer flat particles (between
5% and 9%) than NA because concrete tends to fracture into small
blocks, generating a small amount of flat particles (Pasandín and Pérez,
2015). This hypothesis is consistent with previous researchers, indi­
cating that the RCA satisfies the flakiness index specification for asphalt
concrete production (Mills-Beale and You, 2010; Pasandín and Pérez,
2015, 2014, 2013; Pérez et al., 2010). Overall, the gradation curves of
Fig. 7. Per cent average of the chemical composition of RCA and NA.
RCA were within a similar range of the NA (McNeil and Kang, 2013;

Fig. 6. RCA particles from (a) pavement construction, (b) building demolition, (c) closed view of recycled concrete aggregates with adhered mortar (Etxeberria et al.,
2007; McNeil and Kang, 2013; Rueda Páramo, 2011).

5
E.O. Fanijo et al.
conclusion, with the quantity of CaO in RCA higher than in NA (Angulo
et al., 2009). Thus, RCA’s calcium-to-silica ratio (C/S) is higher than NA
(C/SRCA = 0.46, C/SRCA = 0.3), responsible for the pozzolanic re­
actions of RCA with the portlandite of cement hydration.
3. Methods of RCA recovery and inclusion for pavement
construction
Thus far, it has been demonstrated that C&D waste is a sustainable
approach to ensuring a circular economy. RCA has the potential to be
used in pavement construction. However, other undesirable materials
would always remain in a demolished concrete structure where the RCA
is obtained. These unwanted materials are rocks, bricks, crushed con­
crete and rubbles, ceramics, gypsum plaster, etc. (Gedik, 2020; Jitsan­
giam et al., 2021). According to Ardalan et al. (Ardalan et al., 2020), the
components of RCA sourced from two recycling plants in Auckland are
shown in Fig. 8. Recycled aggregates from vertically demolished con­
crete structures (concrete buildings and bridges) are VRCAg. Those from
horizontal demolished structures, e.g., pavement, driveways and path­
ways, are designated as HRCAg.
Fig. 8 indicates 4.5% foreign materials in VRCAg, which contains 4%
Type I materials (metal, glass asphalt, stone, ceramic and slag) and 0.5%
Type II materials (plaster, clay lumps, and other friable materials). The
HRCAg had more foreign materials amounting to 19% of the demolition
waste, with Type I materials up to 17% and Type III foreign materials
(rubber, plastic, bitumen, paper, cloth, paint, wood, and other vegeta­
bles) matter) being 1.34%. The higher content of foreign materials in the
HRCAg compared to the VRCAg relates to the demolition method. Heavy
equipment like bulldozers and excavators are frequently used to break
up the concrete into little pieces when a horizontal structure, such as a
road or bridge, is destroyed. During this process, the crushed concrete
may come into contact with foreign substances like asphalt, steel
Fig. 8. Components of vrcag and hrcag from demolished structures,().
Adapted from Ardalan et al., 2020
6
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
reinforcing, and other debris.
On the other hand, when a vertical structure, such as a building, is
demolished, the concrete is often broken up using small demolition tools
such as handheld jackhammers. This approach produces a cleaner and
more consistent RCA product because it allows for better concrete sep­
aration from extraneous elements. The RCA’s size and shape also in­
fluence the quantity of foreign materials. It may be more challenging to
separate foreign materials during processing since HRCAg tends to be
larger and more asymmetrical in shape than VRCAg.
The possible amount of unwanted or foreign matter in C&D waste is
indicative that thoroughness during recycling in eliminating unwanted
materials is crucial to guaranteeing the quality of the RCA and, subse­
quently, the performance of a new composite. Depending on how
thoroughly the C&D waste is mixed will determine the method used to
remove the undesirable materials. The two recycling methods of C&D
waste are fixed-based, usually off-site, and on-site recycling facilities.
Because recycling equipment is readily available and reasonably priced,
C&D waste processing can be easily accomplished (Malešev et al., 2010).
It is worth noting that while the on-site recycler is primarily a crusher,
the off-site recycler is also a sorter. Fig. 9 shows a flow chart of the
recycling process of C&D waste in a highly mechanized recycling plant
capable of separating all the components into valuable and invaluable
parts (Xing, 2004). The process begins with an inspection of the C&D
waste, and thereafter materials are separated manually depending on
size and magnetic separation, as seen in Fig. 9.
Further, the materials are crushed, air-screened, and processed until
separated into desirable sizes of concrete and sand fines and concrete
aggregates. The irreplaceable components are harmful substances and
wet sludge containing ultra-fine mixed particles. The recycling process
produces high-quality aggregates that can be used to create new pave­
ment. While there are different flow charts on the processing of C&D
waste to obtain CRA for pavement construction, in defining the optimal
E.O. Fanijo et al.
Fig. 9. Stepwise layout of recycling C&D waste in a highly mechanized plant (Xing, 2004).
content of RCA for pavement construction, the quality of the CRA is
pertinent to the performance of the new concrete or pavement.
The traditional approach would normally involve crushing the C&D
waste a number of times and then mechanical screening to remove un­
wanted materials (Vegas et al., 2015). In some low-income countries,
mechanical sorting to remove unwanted materials is done by hand.
However, in the digital age, the traditional approach is deemed
7
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
insufficient, owing to the increased generation of C&D waste (Xiao et al.,
2020). Recent articles have reported sorting out unwanted materials via
emerging technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence that
improve the sorting of C&D waste (Sarc et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2020a).
For example, robotic systems can identify and sort materials based on
their shape and size, while AI algorithms can analyze images and
identify different types of waste. Typically, all foreign materials are
E.O. Fanijo et al.
removed from C&D waste. However, their difficulties depend on the
preparation and mixing procedure of C&D waste.
Besides eliminating unwanted materials in the C&D waste, RCA
typically has mortar stock to the surface (as described in Section 2.1)
and/or brick aggregate, depending on the construction materials used.
Fig. 10 shows concrete containing natural coarse aggregate and recycled
brick coarse aggregate (Liu et al., 2021). Hence, the RCA’s physical,
chemical, and mechanical characteristics must be investigated before
use (Mills-Beale and You, 2010). As previously discussed, it is important
to note that these properties would differ from the virgin aggregate.
Therefore, the mix design for pavement construction must be optimized
based on the RCA properties to perform comparably to the mixes pro­
duced from the virgin aggregate. Some researchers have reported
improved stability and stiffness of hot mixed asphalt with coarse recy­
cled aggregate due to the aggregate’s properties (Mills-Beale and You,
2010; Wong et al., 2007).
Ultimately, the optimal use of RCA in the pavement is determined by
the aggregate’s properties following recycling and the enhancements
that can be made to the RCA. According to Tam et al., (Tam et al., 2021),
several ways to improve the microstructure of RCA have been docu­
mented, including self-healing, carbonation, coating, and submersion of
RCA in admixtures, sequential mixing, and removal of adhering mortar.
The summary of the various identified improvement methods in the
literature and their relationships has been reported by Tam et al., (Tam
et al., 2021). It should be noted that the performance of recycled
aggregate or RCA pavement is a function of the enhancement made to
the RCA.
4. Performance of pavement containing RCA
The performance of NA pavement is usually used as a comparative
benchmark for RCA pavement. This is because RCA usually underper­
forms NA; therefore, NA is often partially replaced by RCA up to a level
that guarantees the adequate performance of the ensuing RCA pavement
(Nwakaire et al., 2020a). However, there is a usual push to increase the
level of NA replacement in the pavement to increase sustainability gains
(reuse of waste, disposal cost reduction, natural resource conservation,
and carbon footprint reduction) (Nwakaire et al., 2020a). A balance
between performance and sustainability must be achieved to maintain a
functional and sustainable RCA pavement. Pavement can be flexible
(asphalt top layer) or rigid (concrete top layer), but they have sublayers
supporting the top layer in common. These sublayers, viz subbase and
subgrade, are mainly made of aggregates. The potential for using coarse
recycled aggregate for road construction is enormous, and so is the
potential for a negative impact on performance. The performance of the
overall pavement is the combination of that of the sublayers and top
layer (pavement surfacing). Therefore, this section examines the pave­
ment performance from three perspectives – using RCA for pavement
sublayers, rigid top layer, and flexible top layer.
Fig. 10. Crushed concrete with NCA and RBCA (Liu et al., 2021).
8
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
4.1. Use of RCA in pavement sublayers
The use of RCA in pavement sublayers, such as subgrade, subbase,
and road base, is a common practice worldwide. This is because these
sublayers have minimum geo-mechanical requirements and mainly
provide vehicular traffic support by transmitting vehicular axle loads to
the soil foundation (Nwakaire et al., 2020a). The pavement multilayers
have a weaker progression from top to bottom. Therefore, using RCA in
(partial or total) replacement of NA in the sublayers of pavement has
little or no effect on the overall performance of the whole pavement.
However, some studies (Arshad and Ahmed, 2017; Rahman et al., 2015)
have reported that RCA can potentially improve the properties of these
sublayers in comparison to NA. Due to the less requirement on the
performance of the sublayers and being mainly made of aggregates, RCA
is mostly researched in sublayer applications. The RCA is often used as
an unbound sublayer and, in other cases, can be bounded to improve its
performance. This is further discussed in Section 4.1.1.
4.1.1. Evaluation test methods for assessing sublayers’ performance
Various test methods are available for evaluating the potential per­
formance of aggregates as sublayers in pavement construction. These
tests include California Bearing Ratio (CBR), compaction test, tensile
strength test, plate load, unconfined compression test, triaxial test,
moisture/water absorption, and deflection tests (falling weight deflec­
tometer). In addition, other properties of the aggregates, such as particle
size distribution, impurities, foreign materials (silt, clay & others) con­
tent, abrasion resistance, and weathering quality index, can also be
evaluated. The results of these tests and properties are sometimes
compared to the requirements of the standards (see Table 2) as quality
criteria and accepted as suitable when the requirements are satisfied
(Ardalan et al., 2020; Jiménez et al., 2011). On other occasions, the
results are compared to NA (Arshad and Ahmed, 2017; Pérez et al.,
2013).
Some tests (e.g., CBR) are done on the aggregates in a compacted
condition mimicking their application as sublayers, while other tests
(such as deflection) are on sample pavements. It is noted that the CBR is
one of the most common test methods for evaluating aggregate for
sublayer applications. It is the relative penetration resistance of the
aggregates compared to that of standard crushed rock. It gives bearing
capacity values - the ultimate load-carrying capacity of the test aggre­
gates. The CBR test method has been standardized in test codes such as
BS EN 13286–47 (BS EN 13286–47, 2012) and ASTM D1883 (ASTM
D1883, 2016). The interest of this section is to use these test methods
and properties reported in the literature to showcase ways of improving
the performance of RCA as sublayers in pavement construction.
4.1.2. Performance of RCA as sublayers in field applications
Typical performance test methods, from several studies, for assessing
RCA as sublayers are shown in Table 2. When a standard’s requirement
is used, a yes or no response is displayed, and when the findings are
compared to NA, a yes indicates similar or greater RCA values. The re­
sults showcased in Table 2 are an overview of RCA’s performance
intended for sublayer applications; the ‘applications’ column indicates
the usage of the RCA for field performance tests. Depending on the
application, the sublayer can be unbounded or bounded (see Section
4.1.3). The Table is intended to showcase, at a glance, RCA’s ability to
meet performance expectations. It also intends to give context to the
next section on sublayer application, where performance is the evalua­
tion criterion.
From Table 2, most test methods were carried out in the lab (appli­
cations – none). One of the open questions from these is the scalability of
the results from the laboratory to the field. Edil (Edil, 2017) attempted
to verify this in a study that monitored the resilient modulus of RCA in
the field for four years after laboratory testing and reported that they are
of similar magnitudes with reasonable variance. Freeze-thaw cycles,
wet/drying cycles, and temperature changes did not influence the
E.O. Fanijo et al. Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199

Table 2 Table 2 (continued )

Performance test methods for assessing RCA for sublayers from various studies. Test methods References Standard Satisfactory
Test methods References Standard Satisfactory requirements
requirements
(Arulrajah et al., 2014) NA Y
CBR (Ardalan et al., 2020) NZTA Y (Chakravarthi et al., NA N
(Jiménez et al., 2012a) M/4 Y 2019)
(Barbudo et al., 2012) PG3 Y (Aghililotf et al., 2019) NA Y
(Bestgen et al., 2016) NA Y (Cabrera et al., 2021) PG3 Y
(Martinez-Echevarria NA Y Impurities (Ardalan et al., 2020) NZTA M/4 Y
et al., 2020) (Jiménez et al., 2012a) PG3 Y
(Alnedawi and NA Y (Barbudo et al., 2012) NA Y
Rahman, 2020) (Edil, 2017) ASTM D8038 Y
(Arulrajah et al., 2014) VicRoads Y Weathering (Ardalan et al., 2020) NZTA M/4 Y
(Aghililotf et al., 2019) NA Y quality index (Edil, 2017) NA Y
(Cabrera et al., 2021) NA N Particle size (Ardalan et al., 2020) NZTA M/4 Y
Compaction (Ardalan et al., 2020) NZTA Y distribution (Jiménez et al., 2012a) PG3 Y
(Jiménez et al., 2012a) M/4 N (Pérez et al., 2013) PG3 Y
(Pérez et al., 2013) PG3 Y (Barbudo et al., 2012) NA Y
(Arshad and Ahmed, NA Y (Arshad and Ahmed, NA Y
2017) 2017)
(Martinez-Echevarria NA N (Bestgen et al., 2016) AASHTO M147 Y
et al., 2020) (Edil, 2017) ASTM D8038 Y
(Zhang et al., 2021) NA N (Martinez-Echevarria NA Y
(Arulrajah et al., 2014) NA Y et al., 2020)
(Cabrera et al., 2021) NA N (Alnedawi and VicRoads Y
Tensile strength (Hou et al., 2014) JTG F40 Y Rahman, 2020)
(Lopez-Uceda et al., NA N (Teijón-López-Zuazo PG3 Y
2018) et al., 2020)
Resilient modulus (Arshad and Ahmed, NA Y (Yaowarat et al., 2020) VicRoads Y
2017) (Cabrera et al., 2021) NA Y
(Bestgen et al., 2016) NA Y Leaching (Jiménez et al., 2012a) EC N
(Edil, 2017) NA Y (Bestgen et al., 2016) EPA Y
(Lopez-Uceda et al., NA N (Edil, 2017) EPA N
2018)
Y – yes, N - no, U – unknown/not stated, NA – natural aggregate, NZTA M/4
(Alnedawi and U U
Rahman, 2020) (NZTA M/4, 2012), PG3 (Spanish Ministry of Public Works, 2004), EC (EU
(Toka and Olgun, NA N Council Decision, 2003), JTG F40 (JTG F40, 2004), AASHTO M147 (AASHTO M
2021) 147, 2017), EPA (EPA, 2007), ASTM D8038 (ASTM D8038, 2016), VicRoads
Compression (Pérez et al., 2013) NA Y (VicRoads, 2011),
(Martinez-Echevarria U U
et al., 2020)
(Lopez-Uceda et al., NA N
resilient modulus of RCA, which performed better than NA. This sug­
2018) gests that the laboratory results can be representative of field
(Cabrera et al., 2021) NA Y applications.
Water absorption (Jiménez et al., 2012a) NA N The study of Reza et al. evaluated the long-term performance of RCA
(Pérez et al., 2013) NA N
pavement of selected pavements (RCA as sublayers) constructed in the
(Barbudo et al., 2012) NA N
(Hou et al., 2014) JTG F40 Y 1980 s in Minnesota, USA and found that the pavements underperform
(Bestgen et al., 2016) NA Y to that of similar NA pavement (Reza et al., 2018). The RCA pavement
(Edil, 2017) NA N required a major concrete pavement rehabilitation after 27 years with
(Martinez-Echevarria NA N
minor repairs frequency of 16 years, compared to 32 years and 18 years,
et al., 2020)
(Lopez-Uceda et al., NA U
respectively, for NA pavement. It should be noted that the use of RCA
2018) was found to be more economical and sustainable than NA in the long
(Teijón-López-Zuazo U Y term. Another study by Engelsen et al. evaluated the long-term dura­
et al., 2020) bility (greater than10 years) of RCA pavement as a sub-base in terms of
(Zhang et al., 2021) NA N
metal leaching by monitoring constructed roads for at least 4 years
(Arulrajah et al., 2014) NA N
(Chakravarthi et al., NA N (Engelsen et al., 2017, Engelsen et al., 2012). RCA pavement leaches
2019) more metals with a pH lower than 10 than NA pavement. Also, there was
(Aghililotf et al., 2019) NA N more infiltration water during the winter seasons. Jimenez et al. eval­
(Cabrera et al., 2021) NA N uated load-bearing plate capacity for 2 years, falling weight surface
Deflection (Bestgen et al., 2016), NA, N
(Alnedawi and U, U
deflection after 2 years, and road roughness for 2.5 years of unpaved
Rahman, 2020) RCA surface course as a measure of performance (Jiménez et al., 2012a).
Abrasion (Ardalan et al., 2020) NZTA M/4 Y, The results were compared to the unpaved NA surface course. The RCA’s
(Jiménez et al., 2012a) PG3 Y bearing capacities, deflection, and roughness indices were deemed
(Pérez et al., 2013) PG3 Y
satisfactory.
(Barbudo et al., 2012) NA N
(Bestgen et al., 2016) AASHTO M147 N From Table 2 and the studies highlighted afterwards, it can be said
(Martinez-Echevarria NA N that the performance of RCA as sublayers in the pavement is generally
et al., 2020) satisfactory. However, ample cases and studies exist where RCA
(Edil, 2017) U U underperforms compared to the NA. Therefore, it can be said that extra
(Alnedawi and VicRoads N
Rahman, 2020)
efforts were taken in the satisfactory studies to guarantee the adequate
(Teijón-López-Zuazo PG3 N performance of the RCA. This often involves some methods employed to
et al., 2020) treat the RCA. These are further explored in the next section.

9
E.O. Fanijo et al.
4.1.3. Improving the performance of RCA sublayers
As previously mentioned, one of the first steps to allow for the
effective performance of RCA is the treatment process - separation to
remove impurities and appropriate sizing of aggregates. Various
methods have been reported in the literature for cleaning or treating
RCA, including chemical, thermal, mechanical, microwave and ultra­
sonic cleaning (Katz, 2004; Wang et al., 2020b). Mechanical methods
involving crushing and sieving are common methods (Ardalan et al.,
2020; Barbudo et al., 2012; Jiménez et al., 2012a; Pérez et al., 2013).
Furthermore, separate materials could be applied or included in the
sublayers for bounding and strengthening. Hydraulic or bituminous-
driven binders can achieve this for sublayer applications such as
chemical strengthening. Mostly by the addition of Portland cement
(+water) or asphalt, or other activating materials to the mixture of the
RCA. Other activating materials include (geo)polymers, resins, or sup­
plementary cementitious materials (such as fly ash, rice husk ash, slag,
etc.) combined with cement or asphalt. Physical strengthening can also
be adopted by using textile reinforcement in the RCA sublayer.
The study of Barbudo et al. helps to highlight the impact of foreign
materials on the performance of RCA sublayers using statistical analysis
(Barbudo et al., 2012). Indeed, water absorption and soluble sulphate
increased due to these materials, decreasing the abrasion resistance,
maximum dry density, compaction, and CBR index. Nevertheless, the
authors stated that limiting the foreign materials content to 25% can
yield satisfactory performance, highlighting that RCA with adequate
performance emanated from treatment plants with a good separation at
source or pre-screening and crushing. On the other hand, Zhang et al.
mixed crushed bricks with RCA at increasing ratios and found that the
bricks negatively impacted the compressive and tensile strengths and
shrinkage (Zhang et al., 2021). Martinez-Echevarria et al., evaluated
crushing and sieving influence on the performance of RCA for unbound
sublayer applications (Martinez-Echevarria et al., 2020). The result
revealed that crushing helps to create an opportunity to open up the RCA
for hydraulic bounding (from adhered cement for self-cementing) due to
soaking; this is particularly significant for the fines fraction (less than6
mm). In addition, crushed RCA had better compressive strength, CBR,
and less swelling than the sieved RCA; scanning electron microscopy
proves that silicate and carbonate hydrates form around the fine grains
after soaking. Therefore, crushing and watering RCA intended for the
sublayer can help improve performance.
One of the foremost ways usually adopted by researchers is to ensure
that the particle size distribution of the RCA falls within the range
specified in selected standards (see Table 2). By this, mechanical prop­
erties such as abrasion resistance, resilient modulus, compaction and
CBR of the aggregate can be optimized. Bestgen et al. showed that the
resilient modulus of RCA for sublayer application could be improved by
proper gradation, reducing fine content, and increasing angularity
(Bestgen et al., 2016). Likewise, increasing the curing time and particle
size reduces the leaching of the RCA. By implication, manipulating these
properties of RCA would potentially improve the performance of the
RCA for sublayer applications. Using a back-calculation method, the
authors showed that the RCA requires a thinner base layer than NA. The
study of Toka and Olgun also confirmed unsuitable vehicular traffic
could potentially increase fines ratio and change grain packing due to
the breaking of adhered mortar leading to low resilient modulus and
high surface deformation, which were simulated by dynamic triaxial
testing (Toka and Olgun, 2021).
The study by Lopez-Uceda attempted cement addition and compac­
tion to improve the RCA base layer (Lopez-Uceda et al., 2018). Unfor­
tunately, the study also applied these to NA, which does not allow
equitable comparison, that is, compared to untreated NA. The aggre­
gates were mixed with 7–11 per cent Portland cement and water and
then compacted. Compressive/tensile strength, modulus of elasticity,
and drying shrinkage results show that the RCA meets the minimum
requirements of The Spanish Guide of Recycled Aggregates (GERD,
2012) and those reported in the literature. The results also showed that
10
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
increasing the relative content of ceramics to about 22% reduces the
strength by about 22%, highlighting the importance of impurities sep­
aration for improving performance.
A study by Hou et al. evaluated the adhesion of RCA with bitumen
with and without activation effects by metatitanic resin acceptor, silane
resin acceptor and organic silicon resin (Hou et al., 2014). After that, the
bitumen-bound RCA was evaluated for performance. This performance
was compared to that of NA. The treatment improved the properties of
the RCA, such as water absorption and relative bulk density, while 4%
organic silicon resin optimally improved the adhesion with asphalt. The
bitumen-bound RCA’s deformation, tensile strength, and residual
Marshall stability values were evaluated to satisfy the JTG F40 standard
(JTG F40, 2004). Only mixtures containing less than 60% RCA were
satisfactory. A similar limitation on the content of RCA in a bitumen-
bound base layer was also reported by Radevic et al. Asphalt-bound
mixtures containing up to 45% RCA were adjudged satisfactory based
on their stiffness, fatigue and cracking resistance (Radević et al., 2017).
The study of Jimérez et al. applied cement treatment (+water for hy­
draulic bounding) to RCA intended for subbase application; 3.5% of
cement and 8.1% of water were added (Jiménez et al., 2012b). The study
further compared similar cement treatment/bounding to a NA base layer
and showed that the treated RCA outperformed the treated NA. Micro­
structural evidence of this was highlighted by Zhang et al. using scan­
ning electron microscopy to show the interfacial transition zone of the
aggregates - revealing that a better bond exists between RCA and new
cement paste than that of NA (Fig. 11) (Zhang et al., 2021). This ema­
nates from RCA’s loose and porous surface structure that enhances
adhesion and reflects the RCA’s self-cementing ability earlier high­
lighted by Martinez-Echevarria et al. (Martinez-Echevarria et al., 2020).
Poltue et al. attempted to use a fly ash-rice husk ash-based geo­
polymer to treat RCA for pavement base applications (Poltue et al.,
2019). Unfortunately, the results were not compared to that of NA. Still,
they showed that, indeed, geopolymerization does help to achieve
satisfactory performance in terms of compaction and compressive
strength compared to Thailand standards (DOH, 2013; DRR, 2013).
Another study by Tabyang et al. also used fly ash geopolymer to treat
RCA for sublayer application (Tabyang et al., 2021). In this case, the
results were compared to RCA without treatment. The results revealed
an optimum 10% content of the geopolymer improved the performance
up to 30% and met the requirement for high volume traffic (DOH, 2013;
DRR, 2013), which was not satisfied by the untreated RCA. This is
similar to the results of Rahman and Khattak’s study that used fly ash for
a roller-compacted geopolymer RCA concrete (Rahman and Khattak,
2021). The geopolymer attained about 60% higher performance than
RCA, containing 12% Portland cement.
Cabrera et al. added alumina slag to RCA to investigate if it improves
the performance for sublayer applications (Cabrera et al., 2021). The
treatment with alumina was found to improve the compaction, CBR, and
compressive strength up to 3, 14, and 62%, respectively. In addition, the
compressive strength results were better than NA. The performance of
the materials (RCA & RCA with alumina slag) was further evaluated in
actual road construction in the short and long terms and found to be
similar, or improved to that of NA. Another study by Yaowarat et al.
showcased using cement with polyvinyl alcohol polymer to treat RCA
for sublayer application (Yaowarat et al., 2020). Application of 3%
cement with/without 1.5–3% polyvinyl alcohol improved the perfor­
mance of RCA with the requirements of the Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDOT, 2013) satisfied as compared to unbound RCA,
which does not. Evaluated properties include compressive strength,
CBR, and resilient modulus.
For physical textile strengthening, Alnedawi and Rahman evaluated
the improvement of RCA as a base layer by incorporating polypropylene
biaxial and triaxial geogrids at the mid-height of the base and found that
the resilient modulus and surface deformation were improved (Alne­
dawi and Rahman, 2020). One of the main concerns of textile inclusion
in the base layer is the geogrid-aggregate interfacial behaviour. The
E.O. Fanijo et al.
Fig. 11. Interface micromorphology of new hydrated cement and (a) RCA, (b) NA (Martinez-Echevarria et al., 2020).
interfaces are more susceptible to shear failure than the unreinforced
compacted base layer (Suddeepong et al., 2018). Suddepong et al.
included a commercial synthetic geogrid (coated polyester yarns) and
natural Kenaf geogrid in RCA for shear testing to ascertain the interfacial
behaviour (Suddeepong et al., 2021, Suddeepong et al., 2018). It was
shown that the geogrid restrains the base layer, and using large particle
(coarse) RCA (higher than the grid size) facilitates similar shear strength
to that of unreinforced RCA.
One of the ways to ensure satisfactory performance of the RCA
sublayer is by limiting its content in the sublayer application. That is,
blending RCA with NA to minimize any detrimental effect of the RCA;
this is common in the literature at rates of 25, 50, and 75% replacement
of NA with RCA (Bestgen et al., 2016; Chakravarthi et al., 2019; Toka
and Olgun, 2021; Zhang et al., 2021). Martinez-Echevarria et al. showed
that 50% replacement did not influence the behaviour of the blend
(Martinez-Echevarria et al., 2020). This is also supported by the study of
Toka and Olgun (Toka and Olgun, 2021) and Zhang et al., which sug­
gested that using a 50% RCA blend is most suitable and preferred based
on the CBR, surface deformation, resilient modulus, permeability,
compressive/tensile strength, and shrinkage results. Therefore, 50% of
RCA in sublayer applications can be presumed conservative content to
guarantee satisfactory performance. Another study by Chakravarthi
et al. attempted to treat RCA with 0 – 6% cement while including the
influence of blending with NA (Chakravarthi et al., 2019). The study
reveals that adding NA does not significantly improve the performance
of RCA at low cement content (≤2%) treatment. Treatment of the RCA
required up to 6% cement to satisfy the Indian standards requirement
(MoRD, 2014), and like earlier studies, up to 50% NA (with 6% cement)
exhibited the highest performance.
As noted in the previous section, one of the concerns of RCA is the
generation of leachates – transport of metals and high pH impact on
drainage pipe corrosion. To this end, Gupta et al. examined the possi­
bilities of groundwater dilution and soil subbase acidity to reduce the pH
using the liquid/solid ratio approach (Gupta et al., 2018). Values from
the results were compared with US Florida risk-based thresholds for
groundwater. Concerns were around metals such as AL, Mo and Sr. It
was shown that adequate dilution (liquid/solid ratio), e.g., from
groundwater, guarantees a safe level of the leachates. The soil beneath
the RCA base provides safe pH reduction for many years, provided that a
low-permeability paving material is used.
From this section, it can be concluded that by paying conscious
attention to appropriately processing (separation/cleaning/sizing tech­
niques) RCA and/or using post-processing measures for bounding and
strengthening, the properties of RCA can be improved for satisfactory
performance for sublayer applications. Unlike the top structural layer,
research on the non-structural sublayer usually lacks extensive charac­
terization to explain obtained results. But summarily, the main reason
for the improvement is better bounding/interaction between the
aggregate due to removing impurities, particles’ percolation, and
11
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
adhesion. On the other hand, in the processing, treatments, and im­
provements of RCA for sublayer applications, the use of the RCA can be
conservatively limited to about 50% to guarantee satisfactory
performance.
4.2. Use of RCA in the rigid top layer
Rigid pavement, or concrete pavement, is a hydraulically bound top
layer. Usually, its performance is set by minimum requirements
measured by workability, setting time, flexural strength, and abrasion
resistance. Although, as noted earlier, applications of RCA are more
abundant as sublayers to effectively decipher the effects of RCA on the
performance of concrete pavement and, at the same time, showcase
ways of improving the performance, this section is delineated into the
performance using the measurement criteria. The structural require­
ment of the top layer to transmit vehicular load usually limits the use of
RCA for rigid pavement. Researchers typically test out a substitution of
NA with RA from 0 to 100%. Generally, an average substitution of 50%
has been reported in the literature to be tolerable for satisfactory per­
formance (Lauch et al., 2018; Panda et al., 2021).
It should be noted that simple characterization tests, such as water
absorption, particle size distribution, impurities, abrasion resistance,
and impact resistance, are also carried out for RCA intended for the rigid
top layer and are not repeated in this section. Adequate processing of the
RCA is the recommended approach (Panda et al., 2021) to ensure the
optimum performance of the RCA rigid top layer and is as covered in the
previous section. Likewise, physical strengthening of the rigid layer with
inclusions such as fibres, rubber particles, and textiles has been reported
in the literature, and these are covered in the subsequent sections.
4.2.1. Workability
Fresh concrete pavement mixtures often do not require high flow­
ability because no reinforcement or bars hinder the flow. Furthermore,
the workability of concrete pavement is usually desired to be stiff
enough to stay in the cast location. The common measure of workability
is a slump. The target slump for concrete pavement is usually around ≤
50 mm. This is also because concrete pavement generally requires less
fine aggregate content than structural concrete, making the mixture
harsher and stiffer.
The use of RCA generally reduces the workability of concrete mix­
tures intended for pavement. This is due to RCA’s typical higher water
absorption property shown in the previous section (Table 2). For
example, the study by Panda et al. reported a slump of 40–––50 mm for
NAC and 10–––30 mm for RAC content of 25 – 100% (Panda et al.,
2021). A recommended approach to improving workability is to pre-
saturate the RCA to ensure a wet surface (Lauch et al., 2018). A soak­
ing period of 3 – 5 min before inclusion in concrete has been reported to
be effective towards achieving a consistent slump (García-González
et al., 2014). Another approach is to measure the water absorption
E.O. Fanijo et al.
properties of the RCA and compensate with additional water added to
the mixing water for casting (Ferreira et al., 2015; Kox et al., 2019).
Impurities such as ceramics and adhered mortar generally increase
RCA’s absorption (hence, reduced workability) (Kox et al., 2019) and
should be avoided by adequately processing RCA.
The study by Kox et al. compensated for the RCA absorption by
additional mixing water and showed that depending on the effective
water/binder ratio, the slump of the RCA of the concrete pavement
could be similar to that of NA (Kox et al., 2019). Another study by Ali
et al. pre-soaked the RCA before inclusion in the concrete pavement to
ensure a consistent slump between 25 and 50 mm for 0, 30, 50, & 100%
RCA content (Ali et al., 2020). Therefore, adequate compensation for
water absorption of the aggregate must be ensured to minimize the
aggregate using up the water content intended for cement hydration,
thereby affecting performance.
4.2.2. Mechanical performance – compressive, tensile and flexural
properties
Generally, the focus of the mechanical performance of concrete
pavement is around compressive strength. This is also true for general
concrete applications (Arowojolu et al., 2019; Kolawole et al., 2021).
The minimum compressive strength requirements for concrete pave­
ment range between 20–––30 MPa (Feeseman et al., 2016; TRL, 2014),
usually within 7 days of age, for adequate abrasion resistance on the
pavement surface.
The study of Kox et al. showed that the water-to-binder (w/b) ratio
could be important for the observed compressive strength (Kox et al.,
2019). At 0.45 w/b ratio, there was no significant difference between
the compressive strength of 20% RCA, 40% RCA and NA in the concrete
pavement, while increasing the w/b ratio to 0.5 did reduce the strength
of 40% RCA. This is because the water absorption of the RCA was added
to the mixing water. Another study by Panda et al. showed that the
compressive strength of RCA pavement could be similar to that of NA
pavement, with 50% RCA showing slightly higher values while higher
contents reduced the strength (by 20%) (Panda et al., 2021). It is unclear
what w/b ratio was used, and it seems the absorption of the RCA was not
accounted for in the water content. Similar to compressive strength, the
study showed that RCA ≤ 50% showed higher tensile strength than NA,
while 75 & 100% showed a 5 & 10% reduction, respectively.
When RCA completely replaces NA in the concrete pavement, there is
a chance of reduced strength depending on the mixture parameters.
Chan et al. included hooked-end steel fibres in RCA Pavement to
improve the compressive and flexural strengths (Chan et al., 2019). Still,
they found a reduction of up to 50% in the strength of 100% RCA
pavement compared to fibre-reinforced NA pavement. It should be noted
that increasing the fibre content does improve the flexural strength of
RCA pavement, which was not the case for NA pavement. This is similar
to the study of Liu et al., which attempted to include rubber particles
(replacing 10 – 30% of sand) in 100% RCA pavement but achieved lesser
performance (20 – 40%, respectively) than that of NA. Still, the rubber
particles did improve fatigue performance aimed for airport pavement
application (Liu et al., 2015).
Interestingly, the results of the latter study showed that 100% RCA
(without rubber particles) achieved similar or higher compressive/
flexural strengths and modulus than that of NA, and the bending fatigue
performance of RCA pavement was superior. It should be noted that, in
both studies, extra water was added to the RCA pavement mixture to
take care of the absorption properties of the RCA, and the effective w/b
ratio was 0.48 and 0.38, respectively. Ali et al. incorporated glass fibres
(0 – 1%) into RCA pavement (0 – 100%) and compared the results to that
of NA pavement without the fibres; the RCA was pre-soaked (Ali et al.,
2020). Including the glass fibre improves the compressive strength of the
RCA pavement by 1.5 – 7% compared to the RCA pavement without
fibres. Compared to the NA pavement, 50 & 100% RCA pavement (with
fibres) achieved about 96 & 86% strength and was adduced to the
adhered mortar of RCA. Similar results were obtained for the elastic
12
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
modulus (less brittle RCA pavement). In contrast, improved flexural
strength was obtained for the RCA pavement up to 19 – 25% compared
to NA pavement.
While compressive strength is vital in representing the point of
contact of traffic load with the pavement, the distribution of the loads
from vehicular traffic becomes important over time. Such distribution
can lead to a flexural response of the pavement. The study of Chan et al.
simulated the case study of a truckload on the fibre-reinforced RCA
pavement and NA pavement with NA base and clay subgrade (Chan
et al., 2019). The results were maximum principal tensile stresses at the
bottom of the pavement, which was adequately supported by the RCA
pavement at a thickness of 220 mm and appropriate fibre content of
0.64% in volume. The RCA and NA pavements performance showed
similar results at this fibre content and slab thickness. However, for ≤
150 mm thickness, as is the case for the minimum thickness of reinforced
concrete, about ≥ 35% of more fibre may be required for the RCA
pavement. This is the case of totally replacing the NA with RCA in the
concrete pavement. The former study (Ali et al., 2020) also showed that
glass fibre-reinforced RCA pavement required 45 – 55 mm lesser depth
of concrete pavement (versus NA pavement) for a major arterial street,
using the PCA Mechanistic Design Method (Packard, 1984), due to the
improved flexural strength and less brittleness. In addition, a slight
thickness increase of 10 mm was caused by increased RCA content from
50% to 100%.
After laboratory testing, Sadati and Kayat evaluated the field per­
formance of concrete pavement containing NA and 30 & 40% RCA using
a 6.6 m wide, 300 m long and 215 mm thick road (Sadati and Khayat,
2016). Interestingly, the NA pavement had a compressive strength
reduction of about 8–––14% more than those obtained in the laboratory.
The compressive strength of the RCA pavement was about 5 – 13% lesser
than that of the NA, with no significant difference in the strength of 30 &
40% RCA content. No significant difference existed between NA and
RCA pavement’s tensile and flexural strengths and elastic modulus
properties. Four months after the road completion, core samples were
collected to evaluate the in-situ strength. The results show that the
strength values can be slightly lesser than laboratory-cured samples.
Still, they follow a similar trend between the NA pavement and 30 &
40% RCA pavement.
4.2.3. Durability performance – abrasion, deformation, permeability,
shrinkage and freeze–thaw
Sadati and Kayat evaluated the shrinkage and rapid chloride-ion
permeability of NA pavement and RCA pavement containing 30 and
40% RCA in a field-constructed road (Sadati and Khayat, 2016). While
the 30 & 40% RCA in RCA pavement showed no significant difference in
mechanical performance, 30% RCA tends to have similar durability with
NA pavement. In comparison, 40% of RCA pavement had lesser dura­
bility performance. This was associated with the increased adhered
mortar at the 40% RCA pavement that exceeded a certain threshold
where the influence becomes pronounced. The field samples of both NA
pavement and RCA pavement showed similar abrasion resistance at the
surface of 150 mm diameter cored samples. Therefore, the long-term
deformations of the road (NA pavement & RCA pavement) were
adjudged similarly. However, the RCA pavement road sections tend to
have slightly higher deformation due to environmental variations. 40%
RCA showed the highest variation due to seasonal effects.
Freeze-thaw resistance is a durability measure to evaluate the
resistance of concrete pavement to winter and summer cycles. The study
of Kox et al. showed that RCA could have similar resistance as NA, with a
lower w/b ratio improving the resistance (Kox et al., 2019).
4.2.4. Improving the performance of RCA concrete pavement
Some of the measures that have been highlighted in the previous
sections on the rigid top layer to guarantee the adequate performance of
RCA concrete pavement include extra water content (or pre-saturation)
for the absorption properties of RCA, using an optimum effective w/b
E.O. Fanijo et al.
ratio and inclusion of strengthening materials such as fibres. Neverthe­
less, the load-carrying and performance requirements of the rigid top
layer still generally limit the use of RCA for concrete pavement, at least
to a tolerable content of 50% for satisfactory performance. This is after
proper processing to eliminate impurities and ensure good quality of
RCA. In the earlier cited studies on rigid pavements, the concrete mix­
tures are mostly designed based on conventional methods detailed in
various standards such as ACI 211.1–91 (AC1 211.1-91, 2009), DOE
method (Shetty, 2006), and MoDOT (MoDOT, 1999) where the NA is
replaced in absolute mass/volume. An alternative specialized mixture
approach has been put forward in the literature to use high-volume RCA
in concrete pavement and guarantee performance (Yang and Lee, 2017).
As noted earlier, one main caveat that has been identified to limit the
performance of RCA in concrete is adhered mortar (Yang and Lee, 2017).
The residual mortar on the RCA can potentially increase the volume of
the total (residual + new) mortar, potentially reducing the performance
of the NA (Fathifazl et al., 2009). As noted earlier, this can be minimized
by properly processing the RCA with chemical methods, thermal tech­
niques, mechanical methods, microwave methods, ultrasonic cleaning,
etc. (Katz, 2004; Wang et al., 2020a). Nevertheless, adhered residual
mortars are inevitable in RCA. An equivalent mortar mixture design to
account for the residual mortar was proposed by Fathifazl et al.
(Fathifazl et al., 2009) for structural concrete and has been shown to
improve the performance of concrete made with RCA (Abbas et al.,
2009; Anike et al., 2020; Fathifazl et al., 2009; Yang and Lee, 2017).
The EMV method, compared to conventional methods, is shown in
Fig. 12. It technically reduces the volume of new mortar in the concrete,
which inevitably reduces the mixture’s fine aggregates (sand) content.
As noted earlier, concrete pavements have less fine aggregate content
than structural concrete and are generally stiffer. Using the EMV method
further reduces the low-content fine aggregates, resulting in unworkable
concrete mix pavement, such as slump reduction from 122 mm to 10 mm
at 100% RCA content or requiring a huge amount of water-reducing
admixtures (Anike et al., 2020; Yang and Lee, 2017). Therefore, Yang
and Lee have applied the modified equivalent mortar volume (EMV)
method for RCA concrete pavement (Yang and Lee, 2017).
Yang and Lee proposed that the adhered mortar can be assumed to
serve as an aggregate during mixing and for the fresh properties while
regarded as residual mortar in the hardened state (Yang and Lee, 2017).
Therefore, the study proposed proportioning the residual mortar into
two parts, as shown in Fig. 12, where RMa is part of the coarse aggregate
for the fresh concrete. The study further indicates that the concrete
pavement’s performance (slump, strength, and modulus) containing
100% RCA can be similar to or slightly better than 100% NA. Sadati and
Khayat (Sadati and Khayat, 2016) also showcased the EMV method for
concrete pavement in the laboratory without modification by Yang and
Lee (Yang and Lee, 2017). They had a slump reduction from 65 mm to
25 mm (but only 33% coarse RCA) with performance (compressive/
tensile/flexural strengths and shrinkage) similar to or higher than NA.
Fig. 12. Mix design concepts for (a) conventional mix for NA, (b) conventional mix for RA, (c) equivalent mortar volume (EVM) mix for RA, (d) application to RCA
pavement (TM – total mortar, RM – residual mortar, CA – coarse aggregate, and NA – natural aggregate) (Yang and Lee, 2017).
13
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
4.3. Use of RCA in flexible top layer
Flexible top layers, also known as asphalt pavement, have engi­
neering properties related to the cohesion of the bitumen that influences
the flow and rheological properties. The friction between the inter­
locking aggregates affects the mechanical characteristics, and the
adhesion between the bitumen and the aggregate affects the durability
properties. Similarly to RCA used in the base layer, RCA used in the
flexible top layer is typically tested for its qualities before use in asphalt
pavement.
Out of all the three applications of RCA in pavement/road (base
layer, rigid and flexible top layers), flexible pavement usage has the
most limitation and less application. This is due to the major drawback
caused by the adhered mortar of the RCA that impairs adhesion to the
bitumen. Unlike hydraulic rigid pavement in which the new mortar
phase is of the same material composite as the old, adhered mortar,
bitumen is a completely different cohesive material that impacts its
adhesion to the porous surface of the RCA. Therefore, properly pro­
cessing RCA using the earlier methods highlighted to reduce the adhered
mortar is important. This is essential for RCA application in a flexible top
layer. However, the extent of this processing must be weighed against
economic, environmental, and practical consequences. For example, the
study of Jitsangiam et al. reported unsatisfactory moisture susceptibility
despite the mechanical and thermal treatments of the RCA (Jitsangiam
et al., 2021).
4.3.1. Optimum bitumen content (OBC) and Marshall properties
Typically, the optimum bitumen contents (OBC) for RCA pavement
are determined by the Marshall test, and the Marshall stability, flow, and
voids usually evaluate the performance thereof. Marshall stability
measures the resistance of the asphalt to distortion, displacement,
rutting and shearing stress by measuring the maximum load sustained at
a loading rate of 50.8 mm/min. The flow is the vertical deformation
when the maximum load is attained, and the voids are measured as the
space between the compacted aggregate and those filled with bitumen.
Therefore, it can be said that the OBC increases due to the inclusion of
RCA in asphalt pavement. In essence, mixtures made with RCA require
higher amounts of bitumen than those made with NA to achieve similar
performance (Lei et al., 2020; Pasandín and Pérez, 2017; Radević et al.,
2020; Zhang et al., 2016b).
The Marshall properties of hot and warm asphalt mix containing
60% RCA were investigated in the laboratory by Martinho et al. (Mar­
tinho et al., 2018), who reported that the RCA reduced the unfilled and
filled voids. At the same time, stability and flow increased. Pasadin and
Perez also reported that 42% of RCA satisfied the requirements of PG-3
in terms of OBC and voids, though the RCA increased the voids by 14%
compared to that of NA (Pasandín and Pérez, 2017). Finally, an
approach by Arabani and Azarhoosh was to use 4.5 – 7% bitumen
content for asphalt pavement containing 57% coarse RCA or 37% fine
E.O. Fanijo et al.
RCA and reported an OBC of 6.5% & 5.6%, respectively, as compared to
an OBC of 5.1% for the NA pavement (Arabani and Azarhoosh, 2012).
Generally, the fine RCA improves the stability, flow and voids, while the
coarse RCA worsens the values.
4.3.2. Mechanical and durability performance
One of the influencing factors affecting the mechanical performance
of the asphalt is the adhesion of the aggregate; higher alkaline aggregate
tends to show better adhesion. A study by Zhang et al. showed that NA
tends to adhere to bitumen better than RCA due to water-soluble ions
leaching out from the adhered mortar, especially if pre-soaked (Zhang
et al., 2016b). To improve the performance of RCA pavement, limestone
powder was added due to the inferior properties (such as surface voids)
of RCA compared to NA.
The high-temperature stability of asphalt pavement containing RCA
was evaluated by Zhang et al. (Zhang et al., 2016b). It showed that RCA
increases the rutting deformation (26% increase at 75% RCA compared
to NA), which was attributed to the adhered mortar on RCA. However,
the dynamic stability of the pavement was improved due to RCA despite
higher rutting deformation. In essence, the initial deformation of RCA
pavement is larger than that of NA pavement and should be countered
by ensuring a higher initial compaction degree. This is similar to the
study of Martinho et al., which also reported that 60% RCA increased the
rutting deformation of the asphalt pavement by 17% (compared to NA
pavement) but with similar fatigue behaviour (Martinho et al., 2018). In
another study, Arabani and Azarhoosh showed that including 37% fine
RCA reduced the rutting deformation of asphalt by 25%, while that of
coarse RCA increased the deformation by 43% (M. Arabani and Azar­
hoosh, 2012).
Asphalt pavement’s low-temperature cracking resistance is linkable
to the stiffness modulus, usually determined from bending tests. Higher
stiffness implies lesser cracking resistance. According to Zhang et al.
RCA tends to increase the stiffness modulus (Zhang et al., 2016b), while
Martinho et al. reported that the stiffness modulus is similar to NA
(Martinho et al., 2018). Resistance of asphalt pavement to moisture
damage (water stability) is a highly regarded durability performance
requirement. This is because water reduces the adhesion between the
aggregate and bitumen over time, reducing the performance. The study
of Zhang et al. evaluated both the Marshall test and freeze–thaw splitting
residual stability and found that RCA reduced the water stability
(compared to NA) due to the adhered mortar and higher porosity (Zhang
et al., 2016b). This is also the case in Martinho et al. study, where 60%
RCA was used (Martinho et al., 2018). However, the performance was
deemed satisfactory based on selected specifications requiring a mini­
mum of 80% residual strength.
A study by Pasandin and Perez attempted to include 10% waste
rubber particles in hot-mix asphalt containing up to 42% RCA to eval­
uate improvement in fatigue performance (Pasandín and Pérez, 2017).
The study reported that including rubber allows the RCA pavement to
have similar stiffness but better fatigue life than that of NA pavement,
especially at higher levels of micro-strains. The study of Arabani and
Azarhoosh showed that fine RCA reduced pavement fatigue while coarse
RCA increased fatigue life (Arabani and Azarhoosh, 2012).
4.3.3. Improving the performance of RCA asphalt pavement
From the highlights in the previous sections on the flexible top layer,
there is a general limitation on the content of RCA, up to about 40 – 60%
in asphalt pavement. Inclusive of this are the highlighted measures, such
as including rubber particles and limestone powder, using fine RCA and
ensuring proper compaction of the mixture to improve the performance
of RCA asphalt pavement (Li et al., 2018; Saberian et al., 2020; Saberian
and Li, 2021, 2018; Yaghoubi et al., 2023). Despite these measures,
there’s a general reduction in the performance of the RCA asphalt
pavement compared to that of NA, especially the Marshall properties,
rutting resistance, and water stability. Therefore, there is a scarcity of
studies showing RCA’s inclusion above 50 – 60% content. A study by
14
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
Nwakaire et al. that included RCA up to 100% still recommended a 40%
RCA content for optimal performance (Nwakaire et al., 2020b).
As noted earlier, the major cause of the performance reduction is at
the root of adhesion between the porous surface of RCA and the
bitumen. Only a few studies have attempted to provide solutions tack­
ling the root of the adhesion problem for improving performance at the
50 – 60% range. These studies are highlighted in this section, and a
general conclusion for enhancing the performance of RCA asphalt
pavement is given. A study by Pasandin and Perez precoated RCA with
bitumen emulsion before inclusion in the pavement at 5, 10, 20 & 30%
(Pasandín and Pérez, 2017). The target is to improve the water stability
of the RCA pavement by improving adhesion between the new bitumen
and pre-coated RCA. The study did not compare the results with NA’s
but presumed that the approach was effective since no significant dif­
ference was found between the residual strength of the varied RCA
content. The pre-coating was also found to increase the stiffness of the
RCA pavement marginally. Unlike the inclusion of fine RCA, the pre­
coating guaranteed a good fatigue life similar to that of the uncoated
RCA. Another study double-coated RCA for asphalt application (Kareem
et al., 2019). In this case, the RCA was first coated with cement-slag
paste and then with a waterproofing membrane (acrylic-based Sika
Tite-BE). NA replacement at 0, 20, 40 & 60% was considered. The
Marshall properties results show that the double-coated RCA had su­
perior results than uncoated RCA and NA. For example, 60% coated RCA
pavement had 7% higher Marshall stability than NA & uncoated RCA
pavement. This is also the case for the rutting resistance, with a 33%
higher rutting resistance. The double-coated RCA had similar stiffness
but with 197% more fatigue life in terms of stiffness and fatigue life.
Albayati et al. coated the RCA by soaking it in hydrated lime slurry
for 24 h and added limestone powder to the pavement at 0, 20, 40, 60,
80 & 100% RCA content (Albayati et al., 2018). It was shown with SEM
images that the coating significantly reduced the porous surface of the
RCA with denser composites. The Marshall stability, flow, and voids of
the 100% RCA pavement were significantly improved and better than
that of NA pavement, though at a higher OBC. The resilient modulus of
the RCA pavement was enhanced by about 10% due to the coating. The
coating improved the rutting resistance but was still lesser than the NA
pavement. For example, coated 80% RCA had a similar deformation to
the uncoated 60% RCA content. The coating improved the water sta­
bility and fatigue life of the asphalt.
In conclusion, coating RCA tends to improve its performance in
asphalt pavement. Pre-coating with bituminous-based composites im­
proves some of the performance limitations associated with the adhesion
problems between the RCA and bitumen (such as Marshall properties,
rutting resistance, and water stability). But there was still a general
constraint of a 60% inclusion limit. Pre-coating with hydraulic-based
composites tends to remove this constraint in which up to 100% inclu­
sion of RCA in asphalt tends to achieve satisfactory performance.
5. Sustainability improvement of pavement by RCA inclusion
Human activities and development practices constantly affect global
economic, environmental, and social health. As a result, several sectors
are embracing sustainability principles that maintain life cycle vitality
while at the same time balancing critical and often competing envi­
ronmental and societal factors. In terms of pavement sustainability,
sustainability refers to the impact on the economy, environment, and
society at all phases of the pavement life cycle (i.e., from design, ma­
terial acquisition and processing, construction, operation, maintenance
and rehabilitation, to the end-of-life phase) (Nwakaire et al., 2020a;
Nwakaire and Keirstead, 2015; Onn et al., 2018). In recent decades,
sustainable development principles with RCA have been practised
(Gress et al., 2009; Roesler and Huntley, 2009; Won, 2001). Likewise,
numerous laboratory and field studies have been conducted to evaluate
the viability of employing RCA to build sustainable pavements. How­
ever, only limited review effort is found in the literature as regards the
E.O. Fanijo et al.
sustainability approach of incorporating RCA. Hence, one of the objec­
tives of this review is to collate recent studies that investigated the
sustainability assessment of RCA pavement compared to NA pavement
across the pavement life cycle.
As Alaloul et al. illustrated, the LCA provides an efficient decision-
making evaluation system to achieve the sustainability goal (Alaloul
et al., 2021). LCA is a powerful tool for measuring environmental per­
formance regarding impact categories and consequences generated
throughout the pavement service life at different phases, such as mate­
rials acquisition and planning, construction, operation and mainte­
nance, disposal, and end-of-life treatment. (Chen and Wang, 2018;
Musarat et al., 2021; Ram et al., 2011; Santos et al., 2015). In addition,
Mintzia et al. concluded that LCA has the most significant impact on
achieving pavement sustainability and puts a serious restraint on policy
analysis and pavement performance measures (Mintzia et al., 2018).
LCA is also considered the core assessment approach that generates
valuable data for life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) (Alaloul et al., 2021;
Ingrao et al., 2018). The data generated by the process of LCA can be
utilized in the process of LCCA, and the indicators of LCA could be
converted into the cost parameters. Therefore, the details of this inves­
tigation and the interpretation of sustainability indicators based on LCA
techniques are illustrated in this section.
This section also summarises recent studies that considered the LCA
of RCA pavement versus NA pavement from the materials acquisition to
the end-of-life phase. Accordingly, valuable insights are given on the
sustainability benefits of RCA in pavement construction. For this study,
the authors reviewed recent articles on sustainable RCA pavement
compared with NA pavement. In this regard, the authors have focused
on the systematic review of LCA for sustainability improvement of RCA
compared to NA pavement and included a case study on environmental
sustainability.
5.1. Sustainability impact of RCA – Case studies
Numerous research studies have been conducted to evaluate the
environmental impact of RCA for pavement construction using LCA.
However, there is still inconsistency in previous research on the envi­
ronmental benefits of utilizing RCA compared to NA. Therefore, a deep
case study analysis of the environmental impact is needed before
claiming an improvement in sustainability for pavement construction.
For instance, Colangelo et al. used the LCA methodology to compare four
different concrete mixtures containing NA and RCA (Colangelo et al.,
2018). The research aimed to contribute to the most sustainable con­
crete compositions with natural and recycled aggregates. The ISO 14040
standard was used to define the LCA methodology. All of the inputs and
outputs of the life cycle phases were considered for the inventory
analysis. The primary data was collected from the Italian Technical
Economic Association of Concrete (ATECAP), while the Eco Invent v.3 or
ELCD (European Life Cycle Databases) were used to complete any
missing data. The Eco-indicator 99 in SimaPro, was adopted for envi­
ronmental impact assessment. The study results indicated that using
recycled aggregates is a potential field of research that could ensure
tangible environmental benefits (Colangelo et al., 2018).
In addition, Serres et al. conducted an environmental evaluation of
concrete made from RCA using LCA and reported that samples made
with RCA present good environmental behavior (Serres et al., 2016).
Similarly, Hossain et al. conducted LCA studies to assess the environ­
mental impact of RCA (Hossain et al., 2016). They presented environ­
mental benefits for producing RCA from C&D waste, which reduced
GHG emissions by 65% GHG emissions with a saving of 58% in nonre­
newable energy consumption. Recently, Shi et al. also evaluated the
environmental impact of RCA-based pavement (RCA-PCC) and a tradi­
tional PCC pavement (NA-PCC) used for the reconstruction of two old
plain PCC pavements with 23 cm thick, 12.8 km long, and 14.4 m wide
(Shi et al., 2019). Their study analyzed different LCA inventory stressors
during materials production and construction, use, and end-of-life
15
Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199
phases of the pavement life cycle. They concluded that the RCA-PCC
pavement is slightly less sustainable in the use phase (i.e., vehicle
operation costs (VOC): vehicle repair and maintenance, fuel consump­
tion, and tire wear) due to its rougher pavement surface than NA- PCC
pavement. As shown in Table 3, the study showed that the RCA-PCC
pavement is preferable for the entire life cycle of the pavement and is
more environmentally and socially friendly due to less consumption of
NA in the materials production phase, construction phase, and for use in
the end-of-life phase (Shi et al., 2019). The negative value of per cent
change means that the pavement made with RCA-PCC reduces the
economic, social or environmental burden.
Arguably, some research studies have shown that using RCA may not
positively affect the environment, and their inclusion only leads to
reduced waste generation. For instance, Yazdanbakhsh et al. utilized a
unique LCA framework incorporating comprehensive regional data to
compare the environmental impacts of NA and RCA concretes produced
in the New York City area (Yazdanbakhsh et al., 2018). Two concrete
mixes of 1 m3 made of NA and the other containing only RCA were used.
The functional unit is defined as 1 m3 of concrete with specified
compressive strength. The commercially available LCI from the GaBi U.
S. database and ECOinvent were used for transportation, sand, cement
production, and landfilling processes. While the Athena database was
used to perform the impact assessment of NA and RCA production parts.
Gabi and Athena LCA Impact Estimator for Buildings were employed for
impact assessment (Athena, 2016). The Athena uses the TRACI 2.1 LCIA
method developed by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) (Bare, 2002). Sensitivity analyses and normalization of
the results revealed that the replacement of NA with RCA had no sig­
nificant effect on the environmental impact of concrete production.
However, the magnitude of some of the environmental impact in­
dicators for RCA concrete is significantly lower than those of NA con­
crete when avoided landfilling is accounted for. Also, the impact of
transporting RCA to ready-mix plants is, on average, 37% less than that
caused by transporting NA to the plants (Yazdanbakhsh et al., 2018).
Also, Martínez-Lage et al. reported that some indicators of environ­
mental impact when using RCA could be compromised in some respects
and concluded that aggregate transport distance is a key factor that will
determine the cost, energy consumption and global warming of the
mixed recycled aggregate (Martínez-Lage et al., 2020). This is also
consistent with the work conducted in Serbia by Marinkovic et al. and
Tošic et al. and in Slovenia by Turk et al., where they reported that
energy savings and environmental impacts reduction in RCA is depen­
dent on transport distance and are only possible if recycling plants are
located close to building sites (Marinković et al., 2010; Tošić et al., 2015;
Turk et al., 2015). As illustrated in the discussion above, replacing NA
with RCA can decrease the environmental impact by preserving natural
resources and minimizing waste disposal.
In some cases, pavement containing RCA has also been shown to
have environmental benefits in terms of factors associated with NA
material acquisition and transportation. For example, Ding et al. carried
out a closed-loop life cycle assessment (LCA) on the potential environ­
mental impact of RCA for concrete production in China (Ding et al.,
2016). Also, the comparative environmental impact of NA and RCA was
performed in this investigation. The LCA methodology was based on the
guideline of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 (Guinée and Lindeijer, 2002).
The functional unit of this study is chosen as 1 m3 of concrete, with a
mix proportion of NA and RCA concrete having similar compressive
strength, workability, and durability performance. For example, the
compressive strength of concrete selected in their study has 39.28 MPa
for concrete containing NA, 38.46 MPa for 50% of RCA concrete and
39.74 MPa for 100% of RCA. All LCI data regarding the environmental
influence of cement content, aggregate production, transportation, and
waste landfilling were collected from interviews with local operators
and manufacturers or obtained from a database developed by the China
Centre of National Material Life Cycle Assessment in Beijing University
of Technology (Li et al., 2014). The problem-oriented (mid-points)
E.O. Fanijo et al. Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199

Table 3
LCA analysis of RCA-PCC and NA-PCC is based on the inventory of stressors for the entire pavement life cycle (Shi et al., 2019).
LCA stressor category Materials production and Use Phase End-of-use phase Entire pavement life cycle
construction phase

NA- PCC RCA-PCC % Change NA- PCC RCA-PCC % Change % Change NA- PCC RCA-PCC % Change

Economic activity (Mil. US$) 27.3 17.8 − 35% 2450 2460 0.41% − 2.2 2475.1 2477.8 0.11%
Energy (TJ) 375 308 − 18% 15,673 15,693 0.13% − 46.3 16,048 16000.9 − 0.29%
Conventional air pollution (ton) 500.9 387.7 − 23% 11561.5 11582.5 0.18% − 61.3 12,001 11970.2 − 0.26%
Greenhouse gases (ton CO2 eq) 56374.2 47033.9 − 17% 1,269,780 1,271,800 0.16% − 6446.1 1319708.1 1,318,834 − 0.07%
Land use (kha) 0.42 0.32 − 25% 33.7 33.7 0.00% − 0.041 34.1 34 − 0.30%
Toxic releases (kg) 15,318 11,263 − 26% 590,164 590,365 0.03% − 1172.8 604308.8 601628.1 − 0.44%
Transportation (×106 ton-km) 164.108 138.8 − 15% 15061.1 15061.2 0.00% − 23.32 15201. 9 15,200 − 0.01%
Water withdrawal (kGal) 207,000 136,000 − 34% 7,920,000 7,930,000 0.13% − 27300 8,099,700 8,066,000 − 0.42%

methodology was chosen for the impact assessment, which was that of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approach (Lee,
2007). This study showed that cement proportion and transportation are
the top two contributors to both NA and RCA’s carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions and energy consumption. It was proven that RCA mixtures
with optimizing approaches on RCA have no significant environmental
burdens compared to NA. However, the sensitivity analysis proved that
long delivery distances for NA leave a possible opportunity for lowering
the environmental impact of RCA materials in China. Rosado et al. also
conducted LCA of NA and RCA produced in Brazil (Rosado et al., 2017).
They reported that the production of recycled aggregates is preferable to
NA for the impact categories of “respiratory inorganics”, “terrestrial
ecotoxicity”, “land occupation”, “global warming”, and “non-renewable
energy” specific sensitivity analysis result. Also, mixed RCA reduces
environmental impact only if the distance of the recycling facility from
the consumer is up to 20 km longer than the distance of the NA pro­
duction facility from the consumer of this product (Rosado et al., 2017).
A comparative environmental evaluation of concrete pavement
produced from RCA and NA from recent research studies (Blengini et al.,
2007; Estanqueiro, 2011; Hossain et al., 2016; Simion et al., 2013) was
investigated. All analyses considered in each study used LCA method­
ology for the different phases and considered the energy consumption
and GHG emission for all phases. As shown in Fig. 13, the analysis
revealed that RCA’s environmental impacts are lesser than the pavement
with naturally processed aggregates. Furthermore, the environmental
assessment indicates the significant benefits of using recycled materials,
such as reduced human health hazards, environmental savings, the
minimization of primary resource use, embodied energy, and embodied
emissions, as well as reduced waste generation and the pressure on
landfill sites.
6. Summary, conclusion, and recommendation on future
research needs
RCA has been well researched as a potential use for pavement
application with over 500 journal publications; however, a systematic
review of the current state of knowledge regarding the use of RCA in
highway pavement construction combined with their sustainability
benefits is very limited in the literature. Therefore, this study system­
atically covered the properties, performance measures and sustainabil­
ity gain of RCA pavement compared to NA pavement construction. The
following conclusions can be made from the review carried out in this
study.
• Because RCA comprises 60–––75% of natural aggregates and
25–––35% of adhered cement mortar, their properties and performance
measures are highly dependent on the extraction method, the extent of
crushing, the amount of adhered paste and/or residual mortar with
which the RCA is produced. RCA pavements possess higher ITZ than NA
pavement due to the old mortar adhesion leading to larger areas of
aggregate-paste interfaces, which enhance the RCA’s performance
properties. The adhered mortar also results in higher absorption ca­
pacity and the low specific gravity of the recycled aggregates.
• The mechanical performance of RCA as sublayers is generally
satisfactory, though there are ample cases where RCA underperforms
NA. It was noted that conscious attention should be paid to appropri­
ately process the RCA and/or using post-processing measures for
bounding and strengthening. Regarding the top layer performance, the
reported trend in the literature showed that the strength values of RCA
pavement are not significantly different from that of NA pavement. This
is also the case for durability performance for both pavement types.
• Regarding sustainability gain, RCA pavement is more environ­
mentally and socially friendly than NA pavement; such sustainability
benefits are especially significant for reducing health hazards, waste
generation, and the pressure on landfill sites. The transport distance
played an essential role in the sustainability offered by RCA materials
over NA. Overlong delivery distances of secondary RCA materials could
be detrimental due to increased fuel consumption and gas emissions. For
natural depletion and waste generation reduction, replacing NA with
RCA is a technical strategy to improve the sustainability of pavement
construction.

Fig. 13. The comparative analysis of (a) energy consumption, MJ/t and (b) GHG emission, Kg CO2 eq/t of NA versus RCA as reported from the literature (Blengini
et al., 2007; Estanqueiro, 2011; Hossain et al., 2016; Simion et al., 2013).

16
E.O. Fanijo et al. Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199

Future studies should address a profound environmental impact
analysis to prove the RCA improvement for pavement sustainability.
This includes considering factors of the travelled distance between the
recycling plant and construction site, which in turn change the transport
distance, the energy consumption and GHG emissions, and factors that
balance the negative effect of RCA on mechanical properties. Often,
contrarily to NA, there is noticeable variability in RCA material’s
physical and chemical properties. Hence, the effect of this property
variability on mechanical and environmental sustainability should be
considered.
• Further research is also required on the sustainability benefits of
the cost increment of quarrying and transportation of NA and disposal of
C&D waste. Moreover, the technological methods involved in RCA
production are often dissimilar among different regions and countries;
thus, it is worth nothing to develop a dynamic life cycle inventory and
RCA assessment that considers the temporal, geographic and further
technological correlations.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Ebenezer O. Fanijo: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal
analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review &
editing. John Temitope Kolawole: Methodology, Formal analysis,
Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Adewumi John Babafemi: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investiga­
tion, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Jian Liu:
Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability

The data that has been used is confidential.

Appendix

Physical Properties

References Specific gravity (gram/cc) Absorption (%) LA Abrassion (,%)

RCA NA RCA NA RCA NA

(Sagoe-Crentsil et al., 2001) 2.4 2.9 5.6 1.0 23.1 15.7

(Saravana Kumar and Dhinakaran, 2012) 2.63 2.73 4.8 3 10 12
(Butler et al., 2011) 2.37 2.66 5.7 1.54 22.1 11.9
(Snyder et al., 1994) 2.40 2.90 8.7 3.7 59 30
(Medina et al., 2014) 2.56 2.66 4.49 2.66 19.72 16.28
(Wen et al., 2015) 2.52 2.63 3.87 1.17 29 15
(Yehia and Abdelfatah, 2016) 2.3 2.5 5.6 1.4 27.3 19.1
(Ann et al., 2008) 2.48 2.63 4.25 0.73 – –
(Verian, 2012; Verian et al., 2013) 2.33 2.69 5.4 2.7 36 31
(Kareem et al., 2019) 2.230 2.663 5.6 0.4 40.7 24.2
(Ma et al., 2019) 2.257 2.673 4.9 0.46 31.2 23.7
(Rafi et al., 2011) 2.187 2.452 4.57 1.09 36.88 27.21
(Pickel, 2014), (Pickel et al., 2017) 2.41 2.68 6.93 1.53 16.2–23.6 10.6
(Pasandín and Pérez, 2014, 2013) 2.63 2.79 5.08 1.08 32 14.1
(Lee et al., 2012) 2.32 2.66 9.68 1.58 34.68 25.35
(Zhang et al., 2016a) 2.63 2.68 6.1 0.12 34 22.1
(Zhang et al., 2016a) 2.730 2.751 2.171 0.802 13.60 23.55
(M Arabani and Azarhoosh, 2012) 2.461 2.652 – – 25.5 22.6
(Sanchez-Cotte et al., 2020) 2.41 2.56 1.91 7.14 31.6 21.5
(Çakır, 2014) 2.3 7.4 2.2 7.4 46.7 23.35
(Zulkati et al., 2013) 2.32 2.60 4.90 0.44 32 30
(Radević et al., 2017) 2.5 2.7 3.2 0.2 31.5 26.1
(Qasrawi and Asi, 2016) 2.28 2.57 5.8 1.9 31 25
(Kurda et al., 2017) 1.2 1.4 5 1.4 43 28
(Ait Mohamed Amer et al., 2016) 1.2 1.5 5.05 0.96 51.5 38.9
(Vieira et al., 2016) 1.03 1.45 12.63 1.03 20.4 28.4
(Beltrán et al., 2014) 2.38 2.68 8.94 1.53 29 20
(Zhao et al., 2013) 2.65 2.73 4.1 0.7 14.1 10.1
(Thomas et al., 2013) 2.32 2.51 5.3 1.8 42 31
(Xiao et al., 2005) 1.29 1.45 9.25 0.4 30.4 8.08
(Pavements, n.d.) 2.48 2.87 4.2 0.72 31.08 13.77
(Sohail et al., 2020) 1.96 2.88 4.06 0.65 27.84 8.10
Chemical Composition, %

Natural aggregates (NA)

Reference SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO CaO Na2O K2 O MnO TiO2 P2O5

(Yang and Lim, 2018) 68.59 12.96 5.4 2.18 2.37 1.97 3.17 0.07 0.56 0.26
(Zhu et al., 2013) 5.46 1.27 1.05 1.72 49.16 0.085 0.46 – 0.14 0.014
(Sohail et al., 2020) 44.9 15.1 16.5 6.7 13.8 2.3 – 0.1 – –
(Bui et al., 2017) 58.4 16.87 10.32 2.43 7.46 4.39 0.68 0.17 0.97 –
(Saravanakumar et al., 2016) 56.54 17.81 6.07 2.91 6.17 4.2 2.65 – 0.66 –
(Medina et al., 2012) 31.33 4.8 3.53 1.49 48.86 1.82 4.52 – – –
(Alexandridou et al., 2018) 39.97 7.05 3.05 1.66 24.09 1.19 1.15 0.07 0.33 –
(Pacheco et al., 2019) 51.93 18.75 15.96 0.9 4.46 0.76 3.24 – 2.39 –
(Aydilek, 2015) 38 10 7 – 6 – – – – –
(continued on next page)

17
E.O. Fanijo et al. Cleaner Materials 9 (2023) 100199

(continued )
Chemical Composition, %

Natural aggregates (NA)

Reference SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO CaO Na2O K2 O MnO TiO2 P2O5

Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA)

Reference SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO CaO Na2O K2 O MnO TiO2 P2O5
(Yang and Lim, 2018) 54.67 8.58 3.21 2.1 17.38 1.32 2.08 0.07 0.33 0.16
(Zhu et al., 2013) 49.04 12.64 5.72 2.25 14.75 1.02 2.5 0.084 0.73 0.17
(Moreno-Pérez et al., 2018) 56.64 14.68 5.18 1.23 14.03 4.69 1.91 0.94 0.7 –
(Sohail et al., 2020) 53.9 1.7 18.2 12.5 10.8 1.1 0.2 0.2 – 0.1
(Bui et al., 2017) 62.56 12.52 5.82 1.83 12.01 2.69 1.3 0.12 0.62 –
(Saravanakumar et al., 2016) 53.44 11.9 5.9 0.94 18.84 2.19 3.89 – 1 –
(Medina et al., 2012) 30 3.81 1.6 0.33 57.39 1.57 3.44 – – –
(Bianchini et al., 2005) 54.42 9.59 3.31 3.28 14.1 1.38 1.92 0.1 0.38 0.27
(Martínez-Lage et al., 2020) 13.24 3.42 1.71 5.77 65.3 0.2 0.37 0.08 0.17 0.1
(Aydilek, 2015) 52 4.6

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