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Demolition and recycling - Options for recycled brick material
Filling and stabilizing materials for infrastructure
Minor roads
Masonry waste and scrap bricks have for many years been used to fill and stabilise minor
roads, especially in wet areas such as woods and fields. The practice is common in
countries that lack adequate stone supplies such ad Denmark. The material is generally
used uncrushed.
Main roads
Crushed clay bricks, roof tiles and other masonry can be used on larger road
building projects, especially as unbound base material. It is used to build roads in
countries that include Switzerland, Holland, UK and Denmark.
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Although crushed masonry can be used for lightly trafficked roads, it is not suited to
heavy traffic due to the risk of deformation.
The material replaces natural materials, such as sand and gravel, which are normally used
in large amounts for this purpose. In some cases, crushed masonry can form part of a mix
that may also contain concrete and natural aggregate.
In both cases, the material has to be free of non-ceramic contaminants that may be leached by water to cause pollution. Scrap bricks, roofing tiles or selectively demolished masonry do not normally pose a problem unless they are contaminated with impurities such as mineral wool and concrete.
Although energy is used in demolishing and transporting the reclaimed material to the
point of re-use, the use of ceramic material can have a lower embedded energy than the use
of ‘virgin’ raw materials. Indeed, using demolition waste in small roads may
even result in less energy usage in forestry and agriculture equipment.
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