Dr Manjari Chakraborty | Dr Rizwan Kazmi
ISBN:
978-81-180058-1-0
DOI:
1. A Study on Sustainable Production of Lime-Cement Stabilized Clay Bricks and Cow Dung Briquettes as Fuel
Circular Economy in the Construction Industry: Waste Management Practices
Anupam Kumar Biswas | Ayush Anand | Souvik Mondal | Sanjay Sengupta | Soumyadip Das
DOI:
2026 | 337 pp.
The fly ash bricks and Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) bricks may be widely promoted as eco-friendly alternatives, but they present significant drawbacks such as moderately high manufacturing costs, and dependency on industrial by-products like fly ash, whose availability can fluctuate and raise environmental concerns related to heavy metal leaching. Additionally, AAC bricks require specialized handling due to their brittle nature and often incur higher transportation costs because of their larger sizes. These limitations create opportunities to enhance traditional clay bricks instead of replacing them entirely.
This research investigates revamping traditional clay bricks through cement and lime stabilization, integrating sustainable waste management practices to align with circular economy principles. Two soil samples from Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal—one sandy silt and one clay-rich—were stabilized using varying proportions of cement and lime. Experimental results revealed that lime-stabilized bricks, particularly those with 8–10% lime content (L8 and L10), achieved compressive strengths up to 10.33 N/mm2, outperforming many conventional clay bricks, while reducing production costs by 14.3– 19.5% compared to standard market prices. Water absorption in burnt lime-stabilized bricks remained within acceptable limits (e.g., L10 at 25.39%), ensuring durability. Notably, the study utilized dry cow dung as a sustainable alternative to coal for brick firing, promoting waste valorization and reducing carbon emissions. By leveraging locally available, ungraded soils and agricultural waste, this approach demonstrates how sustainable waste management can transform brick production into a circular process, yielding low-cost, high-performance, and environmentally friendly construction materials. This work underscores the potential of stabilized traditional bricks to overcome the limitations of modern alternatives while advancing sustainability in the construction industry.