Early and long-term performance of green mortar made from the waste of electrical cables

The disposal of solid waste has become one of the critical issues facing governments due to its environmental impact due to the difficulty of its decomposition. Electric cable waste (ECW) is one of these wastes. Its production increased in Iraq over time due to the demolition and reconstruction of residential and commercial homes. Therefore, reusing it in other industries, such as concrete technology, is a promising solution. Limited studies have studied the utilization of these local wastes as a replacement for natural sand in the short and long term. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the properties of mortar incorporating recycled ECW as a partial replacement for sand. The fine aggregate (natural sand) was replaced by weight with ECW ranging from 0 to 25 % in the step of 5 %. Flow rate, as well as mechanical properties (compressive strength, flexural strengths, and density), were executed at 7, 28, and 360 days. It was found that the best performance was obtained at a replacement ratio of 5 % of ECW with mechanical strengths close to or slightly less than the reference sample and a 17 % reduction in density. However, regarding sustainability, it is possible to produce a lightweight structural mortar with a density lower than 1700 kg/m3 and a compressive strength of 36 MPa at 360 days when replacing the natural sand with 25 % ECW.