E-Waste Glass in Radionuclide Immobilization

Abstract

Comprehensive needs for environmental protection are imposed by the prerogative of preserving natural resources, i.e. efficient usage of materials and energy. Therefore, there is an urgent need for different waste materials recycling or reusing. However, advances in new technologies in the electronics industry are leading to the problem of disposing of different types of E-waste, often discarded even before its usual time. This research represents an overview of E-waste glass utilization, like cathode ray tubes (CRT) from old computer monitors and TV screens, in mortar matrices for radionuclide immobilization. Due to its properties, mortar is used for liquid radioactive waste (LRW) solidification. Large quantities of cement, aggregates, and water are used annually for mortar and concrete manufacture. Also, cement production requires the consumption of large amounts of energy, i.e. the use of non-renewable fossil fuels. Nevertheless, mixing waste materials with mortar effectively reduces the amount of cement consumption. Aspects of this paper relate to a review of recent developments regarding the use of E-waste in cementitious materials. Emphasis was placed on their physico-mechanical properties to evaluate the possibility of CRT usage in mortar matrix for LRW immobilization.