Journal of Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers ISSN:1738-3692(Print) 2093-7709(Online) 한국농공학회논문집

Recycling of reclaimed concrete (RC) is very important in the management of construction and demolition wastes. Most of RC is utilized for land-filling after crushing in this country. In this study, a series of elution experiments were conducted to investigate the type and amount of pollutants released from the crushed RC. Most water quality parameters including heavy metals and some organic compounds were below standards for drinking water. Some of heavy metals such as As, Cd, Pb, Hg were detected in 0.5 N H₂SO₄ solution after 24-hour immersing RC, which was conducted for evaluating a long term release effect. The con-centration of the heavy metals were higher than the drinking water standards. The results also showed significant adsorption of heavy metals by crushed RC. Potential risks, based on the result of this study were not high in using crushed RC for land-filling. Appropriate management of RC would reduce the risk, for example the separation of hazardous materials from construction wastes. Long term evaluations for the sites of land filled with RC would be required to assess the environmental impacts.