Construction and Building Materials 67 (2014) 308–314

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Application of entire concrete waste reuse model to produce recycled

aggregate class H
Yasumichi Koshiro ⇑, Kenichi Ichise
Construction System and Materials Dept., Technical Research Institute, Obayashi Corp., Japan

h i g h l i g h t s

 High-quality recycled coarse and fine aggregate could be manufactured.

 Recycled aggregate concrete is applied to a new building.
 Fine powder, a by-product in the recycling process, was also reused as a material for clay tiles.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: An entire concrete waste reuse model for producing recycled aggregate class H concrete was established
Received 28 August 2013 with the objective of recycling concrete waste generated during anticipated demolition of older buildings
Received in revised form 19 May 2014 in urban areas. In a redevelopment project of Obayashi Technical Research Institute, a 24-year old
Accepted 20 May 2014
building was demolished and concrete waste was used to produce high-quality recycled fine and coarse
Available online 30 June 2014
aggregate using a heat grinder system. Then the quality of concrete using these recycled materials was
tested and applied to fair-faced concrete structures of a new building. Fine powder, a by-product in
Keywords:
the recycling process, was also reused as a material for clay tiles to cover the floor of the new building.
Recycled aggregate
Concrete waste
This model enabled all the concrete waste to be recycled.
Heat grinder system Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Recycled fine powder

1. Introduction to produce recycled concrete with as little natural aggregate as

Concrete waste generated from demolished buildings is being
recycled into a subbasecourse material at a high rate. A large
amount of concrete waste is expected to be generated as many
buildings constructed during the period of high economic growth
are demolished in the coming years. However, there is expected
to be insufficient demand for such waste as a subbasecourse mate-
rial [1]. At the same time, the availability of high-quality natural
aggregate has been decreasing year by year. As a result, there is a
pressing need to establish a system for recycling concrete waste
into building materials, especially in urban areas crowded with
buildings to be demolished.
In a redevelopment project of Obayashi Technical Research
Institute, high-quality aggregate was manufactured from concrete
waste of a demolished building and used as a material in concrete
for structures of a new building. The aggregate was manufactured
in the first domestic commercial facility to produce high-quality
recycled aggregate using a heat grinder system [2]. It was aimed
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 424951012; fax: +81 424950940.
E-mail address: koshiro.yasumichi@obayashi.co.jp (Y. Koshiro).
possible by achieving high-quality coarse aggregate as well as fine
aggregate. Fine powder, a by-product of the recycling process, was
also reused as a material for clay tiles used for the floor of the new
building. Thus far, a model for recycling entire concrete waste has
been considered.
2. Examination of demolished building
2.1. General description
Concrete of the demolished building was examined to assess its
properties. The building, built in Kiyose city, Tokyo, in 1985, was a
research facility with a reinforced-concrete structure with five sto-
ries above ground and one below, in which seismic isolators were
installed (see Photo 1, building area:351.92 m2, total floor
space:1,623.89 m2, height: 21.85 m). The design strength of the
concrete was 27 N/mm2 above ground and 21 N/mm2 below
ground, and fluid concrete was used (base slump 15 cm, but
21 cm after plasticizing). A visual check did not find any notable
cracks or deterioration.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.05.072
0950-0618/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 Y. Koshiro, K. Ichise / Construction and Building Materials 67 (2014) 308–314 309

some floor specimens did not. Floors on the second or higher sto-
ries were designed to have a thickness of 130 mm. Although floor
specimens showed no extraordinary appearance, the floors were
thin, making it hard to ensure adequate strength.

2.3.2. Properties of original aggregate

By dissolving core specimens in hydrochloric acid (a 10% con-
centration solution for 14 days), the original aggregates were
extracted and tested for density, absorption rate and alkali-silica
reactivity following JIS A 1145 (chemical method). The results are
shown in Table 3. Both fine and coarse aggregates met JASS5 qual-
ity standards. The alkali-silica reactivity tests for both fine and
coarse aggregates indicated innocuity. Based on the above, the ori-
ginal aggregates were verified to have sufficient quality for use as
high-quality recycled aggregate.
Photo 1. Demolition building.

2.2. Examination items

The examination items of the demolished building are shown in
Table 1. The outside of the building was observed visually for
degree of degradation. Three core specimens were taken from each
wall and floor of every story and the compressive strength and
mass per unit volume were measured. Then the core specimens
tested for compressive strength were dissolved in hydrochloric
acid to extract the original aggregate for quality evaluation.
2.3. Examination of results
2.3.1. Compressive strength
Test results for compressive strength and mass per unit volume
are shown in Table 2. All wall specimens met design strength while
3. Manufacturing recycled aggregate
3.1. Manufacturing equipment for recycled aggregate
Three hundred tons of concrete debris generated from the
above-ground part (first to fifth floors) was used to produce recy-
cled aggregate. Manufacturing took place in a commercial plant
with the exclusive purpose of producing recycled aggregate using
a heat grinder system. As shown in Fig. 1, the manufacturing pro-
cess began by shredding concrete waste into pieces of 5–40 mm in
size and heating them to 250 °C in a rotary kiln. They were then
processed twice in two slanted rotary grinders [3] connected in
series. Finally, they were separated into fine and coarse aggregates
through a vibrating sieve. Dust collectors collected fine powder
produced as a by-product in each process.

Table 1
Examination items of demolished building.

Classification Item Method Object

Building Appearance Observation Whole
Sampling core specimen JIS A 1107 Each wall and floor
Compressive strength JIS A 1108 Core specimen
Original aggregate Particle dry density JIS A 1109 Core specimen of 5,3,1 floor
Water absorption JIS A 1110
Alkali aggregate reactivity JIS A 1145 chemical method Core specimen of 5,3,1 floor

Table 2
Compressive strength of demolished building.

Floor Wall Floor

Unit mass (kg/m3) Compressive strength (N/mm2) Unit mass (kg/m3) Compressive strength (N/mm2)
5th 2265 37.5 2278 31.8
4th 2261 35.9 2196 21.9
3rd 2257 32.5 2172 25.9
2nd 2229 30.7 2222 21.4
1st 2246 34.9 2255 34.7
B1st 2254 26.8 2264 34.2

Table 3
Properties of original aggregate.

Aggregate Particle saturated surface dry density (g/cm3) Particle dry density (g/cm3) Water absorption (%) Alkali aggregate reactivity
Coarse 2.63 2.59 1.40 Innocuity
Fine 2.55 2.47 3.04 Innocuity
310 Y. Koshiro, K. Ichise / Construction and Building Materials 67 (2014) 308–314

into small pieces that fit the particle diameter criteria for fine
aggregate.
The large percentage of fine powder resulted from a high dust
collecting ratio in order to achieve high-quality recycled fine
aggregate.

3.3. Properties of recycled aggregate

As shown in Photo 2 and Table 4, both recycled fine and coarse

aggregates satisfied the criteria for JIS A 5501 (Recycled aggregate
for concrete class H). Chloride-ion content was sufficiently small
relative to the standard value.

4. Properties of recycled concrete

4.1. Materials and mixtures of recycled concrete

Mixing tests were conducted in late September. Materials are

shown in Table 5. Two kinds of cement, ordinary Portland
Heat treatment First Grind cement and moderate-heat Portland cement, were compared.
For coarse aggregate, recycled aggregate and crushed limestone
were mixed at a 7:3 ratio in consideration of a lower percentage
of coarse aggregate generated from the recycling process as well
as a decrease in drying shrinkage. An air entraining agent and a
high-range water reducer were used as chemical admixtures.
Assuming a design strength of 24 N/mm2 for concrete, the
Second Grind Sieve W/C ratio was set at 50%. Detailed proportions are shown in
Table 6.
Fig. 1. Manufacturing process for recycled aggregate.
The amount of mixing water was adjusted based on measure-
ment of the surface moisture of both aggregates. Mixing time
was 35 s and mixing volume was 1 m3 per time. 2 m3 were loaded
into an agitator truck. Although the design slump was 18 cm,
allowing a loss of 2 cm, slump right after mixing was aimed at
20 cm.

4.2. Test of recycled concrete

As shown in Table 7, the following items were tested: fresh con-

Coarse aggregate
Photo 2. Recycled aggregate.
crete, bleeding, setting time, compressive strength, drying shrink-
age and accelerated carbonation. Standard-cured specimens were
Fine aggregate
kept in a 20 °C ± 3 °C environment until demolding.

4.3. Test results for fresh concrete

3.2. Manufacturing of recycled aggregate
It took 6 h to process 300 tons of concrete waste, resulting in an
efficiency ratio of 50 tons per hour. The composition of the product
was coarse aggregate (13%), fine aggregate (44%), and fine powder
(43%). The reason why coarse aggregate accounted for a smaller
percentage was that a considerable part of the material was ground
The results are shown in Table 8 and Fig. 2. Slump fell to 11 cm
90 min after mixing for Mix 1, which used ordinary cement. Mix 2,
with moderate-heat cement, had a better result with slump
remaining at 16.5 cm after 90 min and 14 cm after 120 min. Air
content remained within the allowable range for 120 min. Chlo-
ride-ion content was below the reference value (0.3 kg/m3) for
both Mix 1 and Mix 2.

Table 4
Properties of recycled aggregate.

Item Method Recycled fine aggregate Recycled coarse aggregate Standard valuea
3
Particle dry density (g/cm ) JIS A 1109 2.50 2.59 =2.5
Particle saturated surface dry density (g/cm3) JIS A 1110 2.57 2.63 –
Water absorption (%) 2.52 1.38 S: 53.5
G: 53.0
Impurities (%) JIS A 5021 Appendix 2 0.00 0.05 53.0
Chloride content (%) JIS A 1154 0.0014 (Cl) 0.0012 (Cl) 50.01 (NaCl)
a
Standard value in JIS A 5021.
 Y. Koshiro, K. Ichise / Construction and Building Materials 67 (2014) 308–314 311

Table 5 Table 8
Materials. Test result of fresh concrete.

Material Sign Outline Mix Cement Time Slump Slump Air Unit mass C.T. Cl
(min) (cm) flow (cm) (%) (kg/m3) (°C) (kg/m3)
Cement N Ordinary Portland cement
Density 3.16 g/cm3 1 N 0 21.5 39.5 4.7 2267 27 0.048
M Moderate heat Portland cement 30 20.0 34.0 4.6 2279 29 –
Density 3.21 g/cm3 60 18.0 28.0 4.3 2288 29 –
90 11.0 27.5 3.9 2297 30 –
Fine aggregate RS Table 4
120 – – – – – –
Coarse aggregate RG Table 4
JG Crushed limestone 2 M 0 19.5 36.5 4.5 2286 26 0.025
Particle dry density 2.68 g/cm3 30 19.5 34.0 4.2 2295 26 –
Absorption 0.57% 60 18.0 29.0 4.3 2295 27 –
FM6.60, Solid content 60.0% 90 16.5 26.5 4.2 2293 26 –
120 14.0 24.0 4.5 2285 26 –
Water W Groundwater
Chemical admixture SP Air entraining and high-range water reducer
4.6. Drying shrinkage and accelerated carbonation

Fig. 5 shows test results for drying shrinkage and accelerated

4.4. Test results for bleeding and setting time
Bleeding was below 0.1 cm3/cm2 for both Mix 1 and Mix 2, as
indicated in Table 9. Mix 2, with moderate-heat cement, had a
higher value, probably because it started to set about 1 h later
than Mix 1.
4.5. Compressive strength and elastic modulus
Compressive strength is shown in Fig. 3. Strength increased
after 28 days for Mix 2 with moderate heat cement. For both
Mix 1 and Mix 2, a specimen of seal curing indicated a com-
pressive strength of above 35 N/mm2 at 91-day age. This sur-
passed the design strength of 24 N/mm2 and almost matched
the strength of a specimen with standard curing at 28 days.
Fig. 4 illustrates the relationship between compressive strength
and elastic modulus. This test result was slightly higher than
the RC criteria formula [4] (K1 = K2 = 1), but it was probably
influenced by mixing crushed limestone in the coarse
aggregate.
carbonation. Drying shrinkage was less than 800  10 6 at
182 days for both Mix 1 and Mix 2, with Mix 2 having a slightly
smaller value. Accelerated carbonation depth was about the same
as that for concrete made with ordinary aggregate or high-quality
recycled aggregate [5].
Based on the results in Sections 4.3–4.6, it was verified that con-
crete made with those recycled aggregates had sufficient quality
for structures.
5. Application of recycled fine powder to clay tiles
5.1. Outline
In the manufacturing process for recycled aggregate, the amount
of by-product, fine powder, increases as the quality of recycled
aggregate becomes higher. Therefore, it is imperative to add value
to fine powder and to use it efficiently so as to reuse the entire con-
crete waste. A wide variety of uses has been considered. However,
none has been put to practical use so far. In this section, the feasibil-
ity of using fine powder as a clay tile (‘‘tile’’) material is examined for
the following reasons.

Table 6
Mixture proportions of recycled concrete.

Mix Cement W/C (%) S/A (%) Unit quantity (kg/m3) SP (C%)
W C RS RG JG
1 N 50 48.6 185 370 816 622 267 0.65
2 M 50 48.8 185 370 821 622 267 0.45

Table 7
Tests of recycled concrete.

Classification Item Method Remark

Fresh concrete Slump JIS A 1101 18 ± 2.5 cm (Immediately after mixing 20 cm)
Air JIS A 1128 4.5 ± 1.5%
Unit mass JIS A 1128
Temperature JIS A 1156
Chloride content JASS5T-502 50.30 kg/m3
Quality change after Slump, air and temperature – At 30, 60, 90, 120 min after mixing
mixing
Hardening process Bleeding JIS A 1123 50.3 cm3/cm2
Setting time JIS A 6204
Compressive strength Standard underwater curing JIS A 1108 At 7, 28, 56, 91 days
Elastic modulus Seal curing
Dry shrinkage Test for length change of JIS A 1129-2 contact type strain Measurement start after water cured 7 days
concrete gauge
Carbonation Accelerated Carbonation test JIS A 1153 Acceleration start after water cured 28 day sand atmospheric cured
28 days
312 Y. Koshiro, K. Ichise / Construction and Building Materials 67 (2014) 308–314

Table 9
Test result of bleeding and setting time.

Mix Cement Setting time Bleeding

Initial time Final time (cm3/cm2)
1 N 4 h 37 min 6 h 13 min 0.05
2 M 5 h 37 min 7 h 30 min 0.08

Fig. 4. Relation between compressive strength and elastic modulus.

0
100 Mix1(N)
200 Mix2(M)

Shrinkage (× 10-6)
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
0 50 100 150 200
Days Air Dried

Fig. 2. Slump and air content after mixing. 30

Depth of neutralization (mm)

Mix1(N)
25
Mix2(M)
20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Acceleration time (week)

Fig. 5. Test result of drying shrinkage and accelerated carbonation.

5.2. Trial manufacturing of tiles

Fig. 3. Compressive strength of recycled concrete.
(1) Tiles are one of the most versatile building materials and can
be used for an interior/exterior finish of new buildings that
replace demolished ones.
(2) The manufacturing process for tiles, either dust pressing or
wet extrusion molding, may allow for some variation in
quality of recycled fine powder.
Thus far, there has been no quantitative examination for appli-
cation of fine powder to tile manufacture.
Table 10 shows the main chemical components of recycled fine
powder used for trial tiles. Calcium, silicon and aluminum were the
main ingredients, which suggested that some of the aggregate got
mixed in. It is aimed to use as much recycled fine powder as pos-
sible in tile manufacturing.
The constituent materials of a tile are processed clay, aggregate,
and water. These are agitated and molded by the wet extrusion
molding method. Then, tiles are manufactured through a drying
and firing process.
Different proportions of recycled fine powder, 10%, 20%, 30%
and 40% of the mass clay were mixed. Tiles with a 40% recycled fine
 Y. Koshiro, K. Ichise / Construction and Building Materials 67 (2014) 308–314 313

Table 10
Chemical composition of recycled fine powder.

Principal component analysis by fluorescence X-rays

CaO SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 SO3 MgO
41.7 39.9 7.6 3.8 1.4 3

Oxide display.

Table 11
Properties of ceramic tile containing recycled fine powder.

Item Normal Tile with recycled Remark

tile fine powder
Density (g/cm3) 2.2 2.1 Approximately
8% light
weighted Photo 3. Delivery inspection of recycled concrete.
Absorption (%) 2.9 2.9 53%
Flexure fracture load 159.5 115.1 =100 N=cm
(N/cm)
Thermal expansion 6.9 5.5 Typically 4–6
coefficient (10 6/°C)
Resistance to frost No No particular JIS A 1435 Table 13
damage particular Test results of recycled concrete.

Truck No. Fresh concrete Compressive strength

Slump (cm) Air (%) C.T. (°C) 7 day (N/mm2) 28 day (N/mm2)
1 19.0 3.5 24.0 27.1 46.6
2 18.5 3.7 23.0 29.0 46.9
powder content cracked in the drying process. Tiles with a 30%
3 18.0 3.4 23.0 26.3 46.4
recycled fine powder did not blend well with clay and failed to 4 18.0 4.1 24.0 26.4 45.3
achieve the plasticity required by extrusion molding. 5 18.5 4.1 24.0 27.7 46.7
The tiles’ water absorption ratio (24 h natural absorption), the
most important basic tile property, became higher as the fine pow-
der content increased.
Based on the formability results and the standard absorption
ratio for exterior tiles of less than 3%, the appropriate composition 6.2. Test results for recycled aggregate concrete
of fine powder should be 10–20%. Table 11 shows various proper-
ties of rectangular ceramic tiles (22.7 cm  6 cm) which have a 20% Photo 3 illustrates delivery inspections of recycled concrete and
composition. the test results are indicated in Table 13. Slump and air content for
all five samples were within control values (18 ± 2.5 cm and
4.5 ± 1.5%, respectively). Five samples also satisfied compressive
strength at 28 days, verifying stable quality.
6. Application to new building

6.1. Outline of new building and application 6.3. Application

As a gateway to an ‘‘open research institute,’’ a new guard Photos 4 and 5 show the appearance of the building and floors
station was designed to be physically and mentally approachable constructed with recycled concrete and clay tiles, which looked
to both workers and visitors. With this basic concept, the walls comparable to those made with conventional products.
of the station were made from exposed concrete or vibration-
damping glass. Recycled concrete was used to build these con-
crete walls while clay tiles with recycled fine powder were used
as floor tiles. The composition of the concrete is shown in
Table 12. The concrete, using moderate heat cement, had a
design strength of 24 N/mm2. Five agitator trucks poured a total
20m3 of concrete. A sample was taken and tested from all five
trucks. It was a clear day with the outdoor temperature between
23 °C and 24 °C.

Table 12
Mixture proportion of recycled concrete.

Cement Slump Air W/C S/A Unit quantity (kg/m3)

(cm) (%) (%) (%)
W C RS RG JG
M 18 4.5 52.5 49.1 185 353 833 623 267
Photo 4. Appearance of building.
314 Y. Koshiro, K. Ichise / Construction and Building Materials 67 (2014) 308–314
Photo 5. Clay tile.
7. Conclusion
The objective of the project was to establish a recycling model
for entire concrete waste in a city where many buildings are
expected to be replaced in the near future. The high-quality recy-
cled aggregate could be manufactured using concrete waste from
demolished buildings, and effective ways to use the by-product,
fine powder, were considered. The following are our findings.
(1) It was verified that original aggregate had sufficient quality
as a material for recycled aggregate. High-quality recycled
coarse and fine aggregate could be manufactured in a com-
mercial processing facility using a heat grinder system.
(2) The recycled aggregate concrete was verified to have suffi-
cient quality to be used for structures.
(3) Recycled fine powder was used as a material of clay tiles.
When the fine powder content is between 10% and 20%,
the absorption ratio of the product is comparable to that of
ordinary clay tiles and the weight is less.
(4) A model for recycling entire concrete waste could be shown
by an actual building constructed of recycled aggregate con-
crete and clay tiles containing recycled fine powder.
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evaluation of recycled high-quality aggregate generated from concrete waste
using heat grinding. Proc Japan Concr Inst 2001;23(2):67–72.
[3] Koshiro Yasumichi, Irie Shingo, Ichise Kenichi. Quality of recycled concrete
using recycled coarse aggregate M. Obayashi Corporation Tech Res Inst J
2009.
[4] Architectural institute of Japan: reinforced-concrete structural calculation
standard, 2010.
[5] Ohike Takeshi, Kawaguchi Toru, Ichise Kenichi, Koshiro Yasumichi. Basic
physical properties of concrete using recycled aggregate and fine powder.
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