Sustainable Utilization of Cathode-Ray Tube Waste Glass in Cementitious Materials – A Review

Abstract

The advances in the electronic industry have led to a generation of an extensive amount of electrical waste (E-waste) before the end of its proper life span. Excessive usage and production of cathode-ray tubes (CRT), which is the fundamental part of old monitors and screens, has become an immense problem worldwide regarding the environmental issues, since the last few decades thin-film transistors (TFT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) replaced CRTs almost entirely. Consequently, it is of crucial importance to expand and deploy new, renewable methods to manage CRT glass waste. There is an appreciable prospective to use CRT waste glass for new products manufacture, or as an admixture to existing ones, hence the requirement for reusing this kind of waste is favorable. Many investigations have confirmed the positive effect of using grounded CRT waste glass as a fine aggregate. However, this waste is classified as hazardous due to the high lead content. Mixing CRT glass with mortar constructively decreases the amount of cement consumption. Features of this paper relate to a review of recent developments regarding the reuse of CRTs in cementitious materials. Emphasis was placed on their physico-mechanical properties to evaluate the possibility of CRT usage in mortar mixtures.