Construction and demolition waste in the U.S. is approximately 135 million tons annually, or about 3 pounds per person each day. Materials that can be recycled at the end of their useful life as a building, pavement, or other structure can reduce the amount of material that is landfilled and the need for virgin materials in new construction.

The constituents of concrete can be locally available recycled materials, and concrete itself can also be recycled. Most concrete in urban areas is recycled as fill or road base and not placed in landfills. Concrete pieces can also be reused to protect shorelines, for example in gabion walls or as rip rap.

Wood and steel forms used to place concrete are recycled when they become worn or obsolete. Virtually all reinforcing steel is made from recycled steel.

Recycled concrete can be used as aggregate in new concrete, particularly the coarse portion. When using the recycled concrete as aggregate, the following should be taken into consideration:

• Recycled concrete as aggregate will typically have higher absorption and lower specific gravity than natural aggregate and will produce concrete with slightly higher drying shrinkage and creep. These differences become greater with increasing amounts of recycled fine aggregates.
  
  
• Too many recycled fines can also produce a harsh and unworkable mixture. Many transportation departments have found that using 100% coarse recycled aggregate, but only about 10% to 20% recycled fines, works well. The remaining percentage of fines is natural sand.
  
  
• In crushing the concrete, it is difficult to control particle size distribution, meaning that the “aggregate” may fail to meet grading requirements of ASTM C33 – “Standard Specification for Concrete Aggregates”.
  
  
• The chloride content of recycled aggregates is of concern if the material will be used in reinforced concrete. This is particularly an issue if the recycled concrete is from pavements in northern climates where road salt is freely spread in the winter. The alkali content and type of aggregate in the system is probably unknown, and therefore if mixed with unsuitable materials, a risk of alkali-silica reaction is possible.