European University of Lefke (EUL) Civil Engineering Department Faculty Member Assist. Prof. Dr. Şevket Can Bostancı researched the “use of waste materials as constituents in concrete production” in his study published in “Journal of Cleaner Production”, a highly respected SCI magazine of Elsevier publishing house, which focuses on interdisciplinary sustainability research.

“Concrete is considered as the most environmentally friendly material, but its production contributes approximately 8% to global warming, which we have felt both globally and nationally in recent years. 90% of the greenhouse gases that concrete is responsible for comes from Portland cement. During the production of 1 ton of Portland cement, 1 ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas is released into the atmosphere. Although Portland cement is not environmentally friendly, it has a positive effect on the short and long term performance of concrete. Stating that the greenhouse gases released as a result of the material production and during the transportation of the materials have been a means of using more environmentally friendly and local by-product materials in the concrete sector, Bostancı stated that the use of these materials also contributes to both environmental and economic sustainability.

Bostancı; The use of waste materials in concrete instead of natural aggregates should be encouraged.

Stating that marble dust is released as a by-product as a result of marble production in our country, and this product is sent to garbage storage facilities that will cause environmental damage or has the potential to interfere with underground resources, concrete production is one of the most suitable applications for the use of marble dust. Bostancı “Marble powder should be used in concrete production instead of Portland cement with high environmental impact, thus enabling the production of environmentally friendly materials and improving the performance of concrete in the long run. Focusing only on Portland cement in concrete has also been one of the mistakes made for years. 70% to 80% of the concrete by volume consists of gravel and sand called aggregate. The use of these aggregates in concrete production also means using a serious raw material. “Considering that our country has limited conditions in terms of natural resources, it should be encouraged to use waste materials partially in concrete instead of natural aggregates”.

Bostancı: It is aimed to contribute to sustainable development in our country in the ongoing scientific researches in university laboratories.

In the production of composite materials carried out at the European University of Lefke, Bostancı said, “Instead of Portland cement, it used 20% crushed glass sand instead of marble powder, which contains 10% and 20% marble dust, in addition to natural sand and examined the results.” He stated that a slight loss of strength was observed in concretes tested with state-of-the-art equipment, and in addition to this, sound permeability and thermal conductivity measurements of the produced materials were also examined. Bostancı said, “In the light of the tests, it has been observed that marble dust has sound absorbing characteristics and can be used in applications where sound insulation is important. He drew attention to the fact that composite materials produced by thermal conductivity show lower thermal conductivity, so they can be preferred in buildings with overheating problems.

Bostancı stated that the composite materials produced in the results of the study may cause a small increase in carbon dioxide production and materiality compared to conventional concrete with Portland cement. He stated that the reason for this is that solid waste storage systems have not developed in our country and therefore the transportation of waste materials has a negative effect on both economic and environmental sustainability. Stating that this research is aimed to contribute to the feasibility of industrial applications, Bostancı stated that cement-based waste materials will enable sustainable concrete production in our country provided that materials used instead of cement are within 11 km and materials to be used instead of aggregate within a transport distance of 20 km.

Referring to the ongoing scientific researches in the laboratories of the European University of Lefke, technical elective courses on sustainable production have been opened, adding that they have extensive laboratory facilities in both undergraduate and graduate and doctorate courses and that they aim to contribute to sustainable development in our country with scientific research.