Utilization of Waste Tyre Rubber as a Construction Material

The increasing population and expanding industrialization have given rise to an urgent demand to explore sustainable practices to use waste materials as valuable resources. Working on this approach, researchers have investigated diverse types of waste materials to be used in the concrete manufacturing industry. Waste scrap tyre is a category of waste that is produced in huge quantities and their efficient disposal is a challenge. Tyre burning, which is a popular method of managing tyre waste, produces harmful smoke and poses a fire risk as well. As a result, there is a dire need to work on the applications where recycled tyre materials can be used. In concrete, the use of scrap tyre rubber as a substitute for traditional aggregates is feasible. For this, the scrap tyre rubber is pre-treated to enhance mechanical properties and bond formation. In this chapter, the use of scrap rubber/crumb rubber as a fine or coarse aggregate or as a component of concrete, bricks, and road construction has been thoroughly investigated. The strength behavior of the concrete containing waste materials in comparison to the regular concrete has also been analyzed. Though, the rubberized concrete exhibited lower compressive strength than the regular composition; the rubber pre-treatment using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution and silica fume compensates for the loss and provides excellent strength and resistance to sulfate, acid, and chloride conditions.