Dear Colleagues,

Economic growth and environmental protection through sustainable development are crucial to the well-being of individuals and society as a whole. New materials originating from waste or natural resources can contribute to reaching the goals in various industrial applications.

In view of the steadily increasing interest towards preserving the environment and mitigating the consequences of climate change and global warming, Egypt’s role in this regard, and in line with the steady and permanent interest in solving the problem of industrial pollution, one of the most common environmental problems the environment is currently facing is the cement industry. This industrial branch occupies a top position in terms of heavy consumption of energy and the generation of carbon dioxide; hence, great attention is dedicated to find alternative sustainable methods or eco-friendly economic materials to reduce the use of cement in various fields. If successful, the switch to alternatives will decrease the demand for cement, which will reduce the intensive energy required in the cement industry; this in turn can contribute to mitigate the repercussions of climate change and to preserve the environment from pollution.

Established resources such as water, oil and natural gas are running out extremely fast, while at the same time the amount of industrial waste is growing considerably. To preserve the environment and to save human health, considerable efforts and numerous studies were made to use industrial waste in concrete to conserve natural resources, reduce the cost of building materials and eliminate the risk of the harmful impact of this waste. For example, addition of alternative materials instead of sand is an important factor for volume changes during the setting and hardening process due to the reduction of the interfacial zone between the sand and cement. These incorporated materials can improve the mechanical and physical properties and can improve the compressive strength showing better mechanical integrity than cement paste alone. Sand was mixed in our studies with cement in presence of other additives such as spinning waste or replaced by other additives such as natural clay.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Section Editors

Prof. Dr. Hosam El-Din Mostafa Saleh

Dr. Surendra H J

Assist. Prof. Dr. Yavuz Abut

Dr. He Yulin

Dr. Atef M.F. Mohammed

Prof. Ali M. Shehadeh

Dr. Preeti Kulkarni

Dr. Saravanakumar Palaniraj