Environmental life cycle assessment of lightweight concrete to support recycled materials selection for sustainable design

• A LCA is performed for artificial lightweight aggregates produced from waste sources.
• The environmental impacts of different types of lightweight concrete are investigated.
• Artificial aggregates produced from natural raw materials determine the highest environmental impact in concrete material.
• Lightweight aggregates produced from industrial waste raw materials provide environmental benefits due to the avoided impacts.

The constant increase in consumption of aggregates for concrete production represents a major environmental issue in the construction industry. Recycled wastes might be used as raw materials in the manufacturing of artificial LightWeight Aggregates (LWAs) in substitution and/or in combination with aggregates produced using natural sources for several end-uses, thus saving non-renewable resources. In this study, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is performed for different LWAs manufactured with raw materials supplied by nature or waste. Then, the LCA is conducted on different concretes made of the different LWAs.