Recycled Concrete Aggregates – State of Play in South Africa and Collaborative Programme with IITM

Population growth coupled with rapid urbanisation have produced a continued increase in construction and related demolition activities for projects such as housing developments, commercial buildings, and public infrastructure, especially in developing countries in the Global South. The deposition of construction and demolition waste (CDW) into landfills depletes land resources, potentially poses environmental hazards and results in disposal of potentially useful resources that can be used to produce concrete according to circular economy principles. Joint research activities at the Universities of Cape Town and the Witwatersrand in South Africa and IIT Madras in India have resulted in the development of a monograph on recycled concrete aggregates and their influence on concrete properties. The monograph and associated online teaching material, published in 2023, aim at informing industry and academia about current challenges and opportunities in the fields of CDW generation and management and concrete manufacture with recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). The background to the monograph is presented together with an overview on the generation of RCA and recent results on the durability of RCA concrete.