Recycling of ceramic wastes in tile bodies to reduce pollution

During recent years, special attention has been devoted both to solving pollution problems during the manufacturing of ceramics and to learning how ceramics can themselves be a solution. Waste encapsulation opportunities for structural clay products have been studied. These opportunities affect environmental isolation within the semivitreous matrix of the product and remove and destroy volatile organic components of the waste and recrystallized incinerator slags and encapsulant for such heavy metals as lead. To reduce hazards to workers and community and to realize a safe environment, some manufacturers have planned for a production process that recycles wastes. This plan represents the best option to reduce or minimize pollution by permitting the complete elimination of wastes and thus avoiding their very expensive storage in appropriate dumps. Studies have been performed to evaluate the effects of the presence of exhausted lime and sludges in tile bodies and to obtain information for the rationalization of the recycling process. The focus has been on the evaluation of the effects of the presence of wastes on the rheological and thermal behavior of the tile bodies. In addition, the efficiency of the firing process on the wastes and heavy-metals inertization has been determined by release tests of the fired products in different acidic media.