How feasible would it be to put all of our unrecyclable trash through an industrial grinder, grind it down to a pea-gravel grade, and use it as free filler/aggregate in concrete for non-load-bearing or light-load-bearing applications? ie: pavers, single level structures and foundations, residential block walls, etc.
Certainly, biological materials, or biologically harmful materials, would be off limits – that goes without saying. As it stands, concrete companies buy filler gravel from quarries. If landfills offered the grinding service on approved materials, they could then sell that ground material to the same companies for cheaper, as they are essentially getting the raw materials for free. Lastly, regarding stability, this is why I stipulated its use in non and light load bearing applications where the strength of the concrete itself is less important, or moot altogether.
I’m not an expert, but it seems to make sense to me… at least as an idea to be explored.
Great idea :-), another good idea I’ve seen is using bottles as a construction feature of non structural walls. Sure there are plenty of other great ideas for using recycled material in building.