Investigating the Economic and Environmental Effect of Integrating Sugarcane Bagasse (SCB) Fibers in Cement Bricks

The accumulation of organic waste is one of the most serious problems facing developing countries. Developing countries getting rid of their wastes by dumping them in the waste landfill and this effect negatively the environment. Moreover, these wastes attract a lot of insects which thread the public health and cause many diseases. This research intended to merge the organic wastes into construction industry and turn it into a useful cheap building material. In an attempt to reduce the initial costs of building materials, sugarcane bagasse (SCB) was used as an additive in the structural brick industry. This study aims to develop cheap building bricks from integrating sugarcane bagasse (SCB) with cement brick mixture to achieve environmental, social and economic sustainability factors by reducing the black cloud and hence its effect on human health. Removing sugarcane bagasse (SCB) that produced from juice shops in Egyptian streets, affect the visual image of the street as well as the quality of Egyptians life. Moreover, integrating wastes in construction industry will improve street appearance and improves environmental conditions by reducing local climate pollution (carbon dioxide emissions and black clouds). The research used experimental method to measure the structural properties of the new cement brick that is integrated with SCB. The results revelled that replacing cement with 1.5% sugarcane bagasse content, will preserve the structural performance of the bricks with respect to ductility and higher strength. In addition, the proposed integration will reduce the initial cost of building materials and this action will affect the price of the Egyptian real estate market.