REVIEW article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Construction Materials
Volume 11 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2025.1621305
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances In Circular Construction: Integrating Green Materials And Emerging Technologies For Sustainable Construction EngineeringView all 3 articles
A Comprehensive Review of the Physico-Mechanical Properties of Masonry Units Incorporating Municipal Solid Waste
Provisionally accepted
- King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
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The growing demand for sustainable construction materials and the urgent need for effective municipal solid waste (MSW) management have led to the exploration of MSW incorporation into masonry unit production. This review critically evaluates various MSW-derived materials, including paper sludge, food waste, plastics, rubber, leather, and glass waste, in fabricating bricks and blocks. The study compares data from numerous case studies, examining how MSW integration affects physicomechanical properties such as bulk density, compressive, tensile, flexural strength, thermal conductivity, water absorption, and porosity. The findings indicate that while including MSW often reduces density and improves thermal insulation, it can negatively impact mechanical strength beyond certain thresholds. Thermal conductivity values in MSW-based bricks were decreased significantly across a wide range of waste types, achieving values as low as 0.17 W/m•K, demonstrating enhanced insulating capabilities that support energy-efficient building design. However, with optimized mix proportions and processing techniques, many MSW-based masonry units meet or exceed performance standards for specific structural and non-structural applications. This review underscores the need for further research into waste compatibility, long-term performance, and standardization to enable largescale adoption of MSW-based construction materials. 1 in the field. The significance of this research lies in its potential to contribute to sustainable construction practices, enhance waste management strategies, and promote the adoption of innovative materials that can help mitigate the environmental impact of the construction industry.The literature review conducted in this study presents a comprehensive analysis of MSW utilization in brick and block production. As shown in Figure 2, our systematic search strategy encompassed multiple MSW types, using targeted databases (Google Scholar, Scopus, and ScienceDirect) with specific keywords and search contexts to ensure thorough coverage.
Keywords: Municipal solid waste, Waste Management, Sustainable Construction, Clay bricks, building materials, Circular economy, Waste utilization, Resource conservation
Received: 30 Apr 2025; Accepted: 23 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Al-Fakih, Nikmah, Abdullah, Khan and Abdulqadir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Amin Al-Fakih, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
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