Waste and By-Product status of slag and concrete environmental damage

The goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) status (i.e., “waste” or “a by-product”) on (i) the selection of the best GGBFS concrete, in terms of the environmental impact, and (ii) the relationship between environmental damage intensity (EDI) and compressive strength (CS) for both high-and normal-strength concretes. The best GGBFS concretes, as well as the relationships between EDI and CS, are controversial with respect to different GGBFS statuses. In particular, for high-strength concretes, replacement of the waste status with the by-product status for GGBFS has the opposite influence on the selection of the best GGBFS concrete (in terms of the environment). For high-and normal-strength concretes, if GGBFS is considered as waste, then no consistent relationship between EDI and CS is found, whereas if GGBFS is considered as a by-product, then a relationship is observed between increased CS and decreased EDI.