Eco-Materials for Developing Countries

The concept of eco-materials has been introduced to encourage the development of materials that are not only harmless to the global environment but also exert minimal burden on the planet during their production, by making efficient use of raw materials and being highly recyclable. Accordingly, studies are being conducted worldwide seeking to evolve eco-materials for sustainable development in the 21st century. This article presents findings of research undertaken to assess the viability of re-engineering uncollected garbage (municipal waste) as well as available local materials in Kenya for use as sustainable construction materials. Experimental work involved compressive and flexural tests on mortar prisms, as well as compressive and indirect tensile tests on concrete cylinders. The main variables were the type of cement (eco-cement and ordinary Portland cement), and type of additive or supplementary material (municipal waste ash, quarry dust, anthill, coral stone, diatomite and silica sand) added in various percentages as a partial replacement of cement or fine aggregate. Results obtained show the apt performance or superior behaviour of mortar or concrete made from the tested additives in comparison to the control mixes, thus indicating the enormous potential of municipal waste (garbage) ash and natural local materials in Kenya for use as supplementary eco-materials in cement and concrete production.