Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Mechanical characterization of gypsum mortars with waste from the

automotive sector
Anis Asadi Ardebili a, Paola Villoria Sáez b, *, Mariano González Cortina a,
Dany Marcelo Tasán Cruz a, Ángel Rodríguez Sáiz c, Evangelina Atanes-Sánchez d
a
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Escuela Técnica Superior de Edificación, Spain
b
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Escuela Técnica Superior de Edificación, Grupo de investigación Tecnología Edificatoria y Medio Ambiente (TEMA), Spain
c
Universidad de Burgos, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Grupo de investigación Ingeniería de la Edificación (GIIE), Spain
d
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería y Diseño Industrial, Grupo de investigación Caracterización Óptica de Materiales (ACOM),
Spain

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The construction sector is one of the main industries generating greater environmental impacts. In this sense, the
Plaster European Commission is forcing the sector to implement alternative measurement and strategies to tackle this
Recycling situation and bring the sector to a circular economy. One of the adopted measures is the use of recycled materials
Building
to produce construction materials and products. In this sense, many scientific works have been conducted
Circular economy
Polyurethane
analyzing the incorporation of different waste categories in gypsum products. In this sense, the main objective of
Fiberglass this research is to characterize new gypsum-based materials that incorporate waste from the automotive sector.
Cardboard For this, mixed waste (containing polyurethane, cardboard and fiberglass) obtained during the production of
automobiles’ backboards was used. A total of 171 specimens were produced incorporating different percentage
and size of mixed waste. These specimens were tested according to the bulk density, superficial hardness, and
flexural, compressive and bonding strengths. Results show that it is possible to incorporate up to 11% of mixed
waste overpassing the minimum strength values established by the regulations. In addition, the lightness of the
material and its compression and flexion behavior improved considerably compared to the reference specimens
without any waste addition.

1. Introduction
The construction sector is one of the key industries generating
highest amount of waste, causing major impacts on the environment
[1,2]. Waste management is a serious problem in today’s society, due to
the shortage of natural resources [3,4]. There is an urgent need for
reducing the amount of waste generated and promoting recovery and
recycling strategies, towards a more eco-friendly and circular produc­
tion model [5,6]. In this way, the construction sector is drawing atten­
tion to alternative construction materials, by using different waste
categories as alternative raw materials in the production of new con­
struction products [7–10].
Gypsum is the most extended material for indoor coatings in build­
ings, due to its aesthetics and insulating properties as well as low cost
[11,12]. However, the use of gypsum is limited to indoors due to its high
solubility and porosity [13]. In this sense, during the last years, many
scientific projects have been developed aiming to improve the me­
chanical properties and water-resistance of gypsums by adding different
waste categories [14,15].
One of the first wastes incorporated into building construction ma­
terials came from the construction and demolition industry [16]. Pre­
vious research works have included in gypsum composites different
construction and demolition waste (CDW), such as: ceramic and con­
crete aggregates [17,18], gypsum waste [19], plastics [20], insulation
panels of polystyrene [21,22], wool fibers [23] and wood waste from the
demolition of slabs [24].
Other waste categories have been incorporated into gypsum prod­
ucts, such as the waste produced in industrial processes, i.e. agricultural
or metal industries. For instance, waste from the metal industry, as fly
ash or blast furnace slag, were incorporated into gypsum compounds to

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: anis.asadiardebili@alumnos.upm.es (A. Asadi Ardebili), paola.villoria@upm.es (P. Villoria Sáez), mariano.gonzalezc@upm.es (M. González
Cortina), danymarcelo.tasan.cruz@alumnos.upm.es (D.M. Tasán Cruz), arsaizmc@ubu.es (Á. Rodríguez Sáiz), evangelina.atanes@upm.es (E. Atanes-Sánchez).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.130675
Received 3 January 2023; Accepted 8 February 2023
Available online 18 February 2023
0950-0618/© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
A. Asadi Ardebili et al. Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675

Fig. 1. Backboard (left) and waste generated (right) without any further treatment, as supplied by the company.

improve their mechanical resistance [25,26]. Also, the wastes produced
during the manufacture of automobiles have been incorporated into
gypsum products for building applications, as the automobile industry
was responsible of generating 974.415 tons of waste in 2020 [27].
For this reason, the research community is also working on the
characterization of new recycled materials with waste from automotive
sector. In this sense, some works were found incorporating waste from
the automobile sector, mainly incorporating rubber from the tires [28]
or polyurethane (PU) foams from the foam fillers [29].
Herrero et al. [30] incorporated rubber from end-of-life tires in
gypsum and reported lower densities and better thermal and acoustic
properties than the reference when 30 – 40 wt% of rubber waste was
incorporated. Serna et al. [31] showed reductions around 17 % of the
mechanical strengths when up to 5 % of rubber was added. Castellón
et al. [32] also found a reduction on the mechanical strengths as well as
a worse performance to fire. In general, these works obtained light­
weight gypsums with lower mechanical resistance but good thermal
behavior. For this reason, a more recent study conducted by Lozano-Díez
et al. [33] tried to improve the mechanical resistance of gypsums con­
taining rubber by adding carbon fibers to the mixture. This study
concluded that incorporating 1.5 % of carbon fibers to rubber-gypsums
increases the resistance of the material, obtaining values which are
suitable for large prefabricated building elements, such as panels or
boards.
Regarding the studies incorporating PU waste, Gutierrez-Gonzalez
et al. [29] designed a lightweight and better thermal performance
plaster made with polyurethane wastes with a ratio of PU waste/gypsum
of up to 4/1 in volume. More recently, Santamaría Vicario et al. [34]
explored the behaviour of plaster mortars with PU waste, and concluded
that PU foams waste can achieve lighter gypsum mortars, with better
water-vapour permeability, although lower mechanical strengths.
Nevertheless, suitable mechanical strengths were achieved, compliant
with the requirements of the construction industry. However, in order to
improve the mechanical strength of PU-gypsum materials, Alameda
et al. [10] incorporated up to 4 % of polymeric fibers into the mixture.
The results indicate that the polypropylene fibers showed good adhesion
to the matrix, improving the strength and water absorption capacity.
In general, these studies conclude that it is possible to obtain suitable
gypsum composites containing different waste categories which perform
similar to the traditional gypsum products and above the minimum
values established by the regulations. In addition to the technical
viability, the use of gypsums containing waste also gains an environ­
mental benefit as the consumption of natural resources is reduced and
recycling is promoted [34,35].
Finally, the majority of the research works incorporating waste from
the automobile sector for the production of new gypsum mortars focus
on PU foams or rubber waste and they add some fibers to improve
mechanical properties. However, further research on other types of
waste produced in this sector should be performed, especially on the
mixtures of different waste categories. For instance, the automobile in­
dustry also generates great amount of waste from the manufacture of the
backboards, which is a waste containing PU and fibers and based on the
previous findings, this type of waste may help to keep the mechanical
properties similar to the traditional gypsums as it reduces the con­
sumption of natural resources and recovers an industrial waste that is
otherwise difficult to recycle.
2. Aim
Based on the findings of the previous works, the current work ex­
tends the research of recycled materials for building construction, by
examining the viability of incorporating a mixture of wastes generated
by the automotive sector in a gypsum matrix. In particular, the objective
of this study is to examine the recycling of the waste produced during the
manufacture of the cars’ backboards, which is formed by a mixture of
polyurethane, cardboard, and fiberglass (PCF). The challenge is to
incorporate this waste in gypsum composites to improve some of the
properties of the traditional gypsums and, at the same time, recover
these types of wastes.
3. Materials and methods
3.1. Materials
For the analysis of gypsum mortars with PCF waste from the auto­
motive sector, the following materials are used: gypsum, backboard
wastes, and water.
• Gypsum: traditional commercialized gypsum (type B1), according to
the UNE-EN 13279–1 standard, was used. The gypsum was provided
by the manufacturer Placo Saint Gobain.
• Water: with the technical characteristics established by standard
UNE EN 13279–2.
• Backboard waste: from the leftovers of the production of backboards
for the cars was used (Fig. 1). The backboards are composed of a
cardboard core with a honeycomb structure covered by a mixture of
polyurethane (PU) with fiberglass (FG), creating a ’’sandwich’’
panel. The waste was provided by the Grudem factory in Spain.
3.2. Experimental plan
The experimental plan followed three stages:
a) Characterization of the raw materials: gypsum and waste
b) Specimens’ preparation

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A. Asadi Ardebili et al.
Fig. 2. Particle size distribution of the waste after being crushed.
c) Physico-chemical and mechanical characterization of
compounds.
3.2.1. Characterization of the raw materials: Gypsum and waste
The waste provided was crushed and sieved (sieves of 5 mm, 4 mm, 2
mm, and 1 mm were used) and was subsequently placed inside a heater
until constant mass (24 h at 60 ◦ C) to reduce the moisture content.
Regarding the physico-chemical characterization, the following tests
were carried out: thermal analysis with simultaneous differential scan­
ning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray
diffraction (XRD).
A TA Instruments SDT Q600 analysis unit was used for the DSC/TGA
test. This analysis was carried out in a range of temperatures between
room temperature and 900 ◦ C with increments of 10 ◦ C/minute, under a
100 cm3/min flow of air previously filtered and analyzing a sample mass
of approximately 40–50 mg.
Regarding the XRD spectra, these were obtained using Siemens
Krystalloflex D5000 equipment, with a Cu-Kα graphite monochromator.
The diffractograms were obtained in a range of 5◦ ≤ 2θ ≤ 60◦ every
0.04◦ , 4 s per step and the crystalline phases were identified by com­
parison with the International Center for Diffraction Data Powder
Diffraction Files (ICDD PDF).
3.2.2. Specimens’ preparation
A total of 51 series composed by three prismatic specimens
4x4x16cm3 each (171 specimens) were prepared following the UNE EN
13279–2 [36], varying the water/gypsum (w/g) ratio (values of 0.5, 0.6,
and 0.7), the percentages of mixed waste over the weight of gypsum (2.5
%, 6 %, and 11 %) and the particle size of added waste (fractions less
than 1 mm and bigger than 5 mm; or comprised between 1 and 2 mm,
2–4 mm, 4–5 mm. named 1 mm, 2 mm and 4 mm respectively). Also
series of compounds incorporating the whole waste as received, without
any additional treatment of crushing, were prepared (series of Not
Treated samples, called NT samples). The samples were named
following a specific nomenclature: the water/gypsum ratio followed by
the percentage of waste added and completed with the size or treatment
of the waste. For example, the sample 0.5/11/NT correspond to a water/
gypsum ratio of 0.5, 11 % of waste, and not treated waste.
In addition, reference samples (without waste) were also prepared
for each water/gypsum ratio to compare the results. The different per­
centages of waste addition were obtained based on the acceptable
workability of the mixtures following the regulations for the consistency
test [15].
Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675
the In all series, the waste was mixed with the gypsum manually and
were further cured under laboratory conditions (temperature 25 ± 3 ◦ C
and air relative humidity around 52 ± 5 %) following the standard UNE
EN 13279–2 [36]. The specimens were tested after dried in a heater at a
constant temperature for 24 h, according to standard UNE EN 13279–2
[36].
3.2.3. Physico-chemical and mechanical characterization of the compounds
All the specimens were characterized for their bulk density, super­
ficial hardness, flexural and compressive strength following the Euro­
pean standards [17,36,37]. Further, for each test, the mean value
achieved was compared with the reference sample and with the mini­
mum values established by the current regulations:
• Flexural strength: ≥ 1 N/mm2
• Compressive strength: ≥ 2 N/mm2
• Superficial hardness: ≥ 45 units Shore C
Furthermore, the correlation to estimate the mechanical strengths of
a compound once known its bulk density is studied. To this end, the
results obtained for each specimen were analyzed with different linear
regressions to obtain the equation of the trend of data. The coefficients
of determination of the models (R2) are also obtained to meet
adjustment.
After, based on the results obtained, a selection of the best com­
pounds was performed, considering the major percentage of waste
addition with the minimum treatment and were further tested regarding
their bonding strength. The selected compounds were also characterized
by DSC/TGA and XRD in the same conditions described above in section
3.2.1, although the compounds samples were ground in an agate mortar
and sieved to 0.3 mm to obtain a homogeneous particle size. Also, the
compounds were analyzed by scanning electronic microscopy using a
Jeol JSM-820 microscope operating at 20 kV and equipped with EDX
analysis from Oxford. Previously to the test the sample was coated with
gold using a 108 Auto Sputter Coater Cressington to assure the con­
ductivity of the sample for SEM imaging. The SEM analysis was made on
the fractured face of the specimens obtained after the flexural test.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Results of the characterization of raw materials: Gypsum and waste
The percentage of waste that passes each sieve is shown in Fig. 2. The
major proportion are particles of size 4 mm, 5 mm, and above 5 mm.
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A. Asadi Ardebili et al.
Fig. 3. X-ray diffractogram of gypsum.
Fig. 4. Thermal analysis of gypsum.
Furthermore, Fig. 3 shows the XRD analysis of the gypsum powder
sample used in this study, where the diffraction peaks corresponding to
gypsum hemihydrate CaSO4⋅0.5H20 can be seen, according to the
Diffraction Data Powder Diffraction Files and with the most intense peak
at values of 2 ⊖ of 14.75◦ , 25.66◦ , 29.69◦ , 31.85◦ and 49.29◦ . As
described below, the presence of CaCO3 in the samples is observed by
thermal analysis and also by EDX analysis, but is not clearly observed in
the X-ray diffractogram because the main peak of CaCO3 at an angle of
29.41◦ (ICDD PDF) appears as a shoulder of the main peak of calcium
sulphate hemihydrate.
Fig. 4 shows the thermal analysis of the gypsum. The mass of the
sample is presented as a percentage and the first derivative of the mass
with respect to temperature and the associated heat flux (with the peak-
up criterion for an exothermic process) are in green, blue and red,
respectively. Results show an initial mass loss close to 5 %; this mass loss
at temperatures below 75 ◦ C can be assigned to the loss of physically
bound water present in the raw material. The endothermic dehydration
of hemihydrate to obtain soluble anhydrite CaSO4 produced in the range
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Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675
of 75–180 ◦ C, with a maximum close to 123 ◦ C. The soluble anhydrite
suffers an exothermic phase change to insoluble anhydrite without
associated mass change that is seen with a maximum in the heat flow
line around 350 ◦ C [38–40]. In the range 600–800 ◦ C, there is a mass loss
of approximately 4.67 %, which would correspond to the endothermic
decomposition of Calcium carbonate CaCO3 to CaO present in the raw
material gypsum used in this work, and with a maximum at around
718 ◦ C.
The thermal analysis of the waste (particle size less than 1 mm)
represented in Fig. 5 shows a total mass loss of 85.33 % with 3 main
partial event of mass loss all of them being exothermic. A first mass loss
(around 37.8 %) produces at temperature below 350 ◦ C, with a
maximum at approximately 326 ◦ C. In the temperature interval of
350–425 ◦ C, a small second mass loss occurs (11.4 %). The third mass
loss (36.1 %) range from 425 to 700 ◦ C with a maximum around 539 ◦ C.
The three exothermic events would correspond to the combustion of
organic matter contained in the waste such as polyurethane and card­
board. The waste also contains inorganic fiberglass mainly composed of
A. Asadi Ardebili et al. Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675

Fig. 5. Thermal analysis of the waste (particle size less than 1 mm).

Fig. 6. Bulk density results according to water/gypsum ratio, the percentage and particle size of waste.

Fig. 7. Superficial hardness results.

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A. Asadi Ardebili et al. Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675

Fig. 8. Results of flexural strength.

Fig. 9. Sections of specimens tested for flexural strength.

Fig. 10. Results for compression strength.

SiO2 that does not decompose at high temperatures and account for the
14.67 % of remaining mass after the thermal analysis.
4.2. Bulk density
The bulk densities of the gypsum composites are presented in Fig. 6.
The bulk density values vary between 0.99 and 1.34 g/cm3 depending
on the weight percentage of waste additions, the ratio of water/gypsum,
and particle size. As expected and following the results of previous
research works [16,41], the results obtained show that lower densities
are achieved with higher water/gypsum ratio.
Also, it was found that an increase in the percentage of additions
involves a slight reduction in the density of the gypsum matrix. The
density reduction was most pronounced in specimens in which small
particle sizes (2 mm) are used, with a fall of around 0.5 % with respect to
the reference sample. This was also observed by Alameda et al. [10]
study which found that adding fibers into the gypsum involved small
variations (below 8 %) with regard to the density of the material.

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A. Asadi Ardebili et al. Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675

Fig. 11. Relation between the bulk density and mechanical strengths.

Table 1
Results for bonding strength.
Bonding strength REF REF REF 0.5/ 0.6/ 0.7/
(N/mm2) 0.5 0.6 0.7 11/NT 11/NT 11/NT

1.12 1.10 1.24 1.56 2.35 1.54

4.3. Superficial hardness

Fig. 7 shows the results for superficial hardness. On average, the

addition of waste keeps similar superficial hardness than the reference
except for the 0.7 w/g samples which increases around 14.8 %. As can be
observed, lower surface Shore C hardness are obtained with 0.5 and 0.6
w/g ratios, and the decrease is greater when 2.5 % or 6 % of waste is
added to the mixture.

Fig. 12. XRD pattern of REF 0.6 (bottom, black color) and 0.6–11-NT (top, red
4.4. Flexural and compressive strength color) compounds. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
The flexural strengths results are shown in Fig. 8. On average, the
flexural strength decreases around 14.6 % and 9.6 % with ratios of 0.5
and 0.6 respectively. By contrast, an increase of around 28.5 % in the

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A. Asadi Ardebili et al.
Fig. 13. Thermal analysis of REF 0.6 (top) and 0.6–11-NT (bottom) compounds.
flexural strength is observed on samples with 0.7 w/g. Due to the
presence of fibers, which may increase the flexural strength in com­
pounds with lower resistance due to a higher content of water [10,23].
According to the three w/g ratios considered in this work (0.5, 0.6 and
0.7) on samples with 11 % waste, an increase of the mechanical strength
compated to the reference was achieved, with the major increase ob­
tained with the composite 0.6/11/4mm. It should be noted that in all
cases the mechanical values are above the minimum 1 MPa standard
requirement [42].
Fig. 9 shows the cross section images of the specimens tested for
flexural strength, showing the distribution of the mixed waste within the
matrix. It can be observed that the waste is homogeneously distributed.
The results obtained from the compressive strength test (Fig. 10)
show that composites with water/gypsum 0.7 performed better, reach­
ing or even exceeding the reference value in all cases up to 11 %. The
major increase in strength was recorded in composite 0.6/11/4mm
(10.42 MPa), while the sharpest decrease was observed in the mixture
0.5/6/2mm (6.76 MPa). All the results were above the minimum 2 MPa
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Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675
set by the standard [42]. In addition, incorporating PCF waste, can
create a compact matrix with the plaster with results surpassing the
results obtained with the reference specimens without waste. In general,
greater values were obtained in mixtures with particle size smaller than
1 mm, 1 mm, and bigger than 5 mm at 11 % and 6 % of waste addition.
Analyzing the compression results obtained in Fig. 10 of the com­
pounds containing non-treated waste (NT), it can be observed how these
strengths are lower than the reference sample and those with smaller
particle size of waste.
Fig. 11 shows the relation between the density and the mechanical
resistance of the compounds.
Results show that there is an increasing trend of the mechanical
behavior of the compound when the water/gypsum ratio increases. This
results coincides with the conclusions obtained by previous researches
regarding recycled materials [34,41].
Based on the results, several specimens were selected based on the
highest physical and mechanical properties and also considering the
least treated waste. Based on this criteria, the following composites were
A. Asadi Ardebili et al. Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675

Fig. 14. SEM picture of REF 0.6 sample (magnification x200). Insert: (a) gypsum dihydrate crystals; (b) CaCO3 particles.

Fig. 15. SEM picture of 0.6–11-NT sample (magnification x500). Insert: (c) gypsum dihydrate crystals; (d) polyurethane particles; (e) fiberglass particles.

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A. Asadi Ardebili et al.
Fig. 16. SEM picture of 0.6–11-NT sample (magnification x1000). Insert: (f)
cardboard particle.
selected to be further tested for bonding strength: 0.5/11/NT, 0.6/11/
NT and 0.7/11/NT and the corresponding reference compounds.
4.5. Bonding strength
Table 1 shows the results for the bonding test of the selected com­
pounds, based on the highest percentage of waste addition and less pre-
treatment. Results show that the bonding strength is increased around
57 % when the waste is added. All the results surpass the minimum value
established by the regulation (0.2 N/mm2) and the best result was found
for sample containing 11 % of waste and 0.6 w/g ratio. Based on these
results, the sample 0.6/11/NT was characterized by XRD diffraction,
thermal analysis and SEM.
4.6. Physico-chemical analysis of compounds by XRD and TGA
The X-ray diffraction analysis of the reference compound with a
water/gypsum ratio of 0.6 (REF 0.6) and the compound with the same
water/gypsum ratio and 11 wt% of not treated waste (0.6–11-NT sam­
ple) is shown in Fig. 12. The diffractograms show that both samples
present a similar profile in terms of the location of the peaks corre­
sponding to the gypsum dehydrate according to the Diffraction Data
Powder Diffraction Files with the main peaks at values of 2 ⊖ of 11.65◦ ,
20.74◦ , 23.42◦ , 29.15, 31.08◦ and 33.37◦ .
In Fig. 13, the thermogravimetric analysis of samples REF 0.6 and
0.6–11-NT is shown (top and bottom respectively). In Fig. 13 top, a first
mass loss of 16.7 % which correspond to the endothermic dehydration of
gypsum dehydrate to hemihydrate, and the consecutive dehydration of
the hemihydrate produced to anhydrite CaSO4 can be observed. These
two events are seen in the derivative weight line as a peak with a
maximum mass loss at around 130 ◦ C corresponding to the first dehy­
dration and as a shoulder with a maximum at around 143 ◦ C corre­
sponding to the second dehydration. The phase change from soluble
anhydrite to insoluble anhydrite is clearly seen with a maximum in the
heat flow line around 360 ◦ C. In the range of 600–800 ◦ C the endo­
thermic decomposition of CaCO3 to CaO present in the raw material
gypsum already commented present a loss mass of around 4 wt%.
The thermal analysis of the 0.6–11-NT compound (Fig. 13 bottom)
presents q similar behavior concerning the endothermic events of gyp­
sum dehydration and CaCO3 decomposition. However, an additional
exothermic mass loss around 2.8 % is observed in the range of temper­
atures comprised between 200 and 800 ◦ C, with two maxima in the
10
Construction and Building Materials 370 (2023) 130675
derivative weight line at around 330 ◦ C and 540 ◦ C. This mass loss can
be attributed to the combustion of the organic matter (polyurethane and
cardboard) from waste present in the sample. As it has been commented
in the point of materials and methods, the specimens have been milled
and sieved previously to the thermal analysis and obviously the powder
sample thus produced contain a small quantity of waste.
The following figures show several microscopic images of reference
sample REF 0.6 (Fig. 14) and sample composite 0.6–11-NT (Fig. 15 and
Fig. 16). In reference composite needle shaped gypsum dihydrate crys­
tals are observed forming a porous framework where also bigger parti­
cles of calcium carbonate are identified with EDX analysis according to
the results of thermal analysis.
In the composite sample 0.6–11-NT (Fig. 15) the gypsum dihydrate
needle-shaped crystals are also observed. By means of EDX analysis the
rounded particles of polyurethane, and the fibrous elongated particles of
fiberglass have been identified. The Fig. 15 show that the gypsum
crystals forms big groups (left side of Fig. 15) and also small groups
partially covering the waste particles with a good bonding between the
surface of particle waste and gypsum crystals. Also, particles of card­
board are identified by means of EDX analysis (Fig. 16).
5. Conclusions
It can be concluded that it is possible to develop a plaster-based
recycled material containing backboard waste from the automobile in­
dustry in order to design building applications, such as interior coatings,
following circular economy criteria. Other conclusions are:
• Up to 11 % of waste from the automotive sector can be incorporated
to gypsum keeping a good workability of the mixture and the prop­
erties above the minimum values stablished by the regulations.
• The use of the waste without any treatment (NT) is recommended
compared to smaller particle sizes due to their good performance and
less pre-treatment.
• Compounds containing waste achieved similar bulk densities than
the reference, showing a slight decrease of 2 % and thus resulting in
lighter products.
• On the other hand, compounds with higher superficial hardness were
obtained with 0.7 w/g ratios.
• Better mechanical behavior was obtained with 0.7 w/g compounds
with waste additions below 6 %.
• An increase in the bonding strength was observed for all the
compounds.
The study conducted finds some limitations that can be performed in
further research such as the behavior of the compounds regarding the
water resistance, fire resistance or further testing for other building
applications.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Anis Asadi Ardebili: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data cura­
tion, Resources, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. Paola Villoria
Sáez: Conceptualization, Investigation, Supervision, Writing – original
draft, Writing – review & editing. Mariano González Cortina:
Conceptualization, Investigation, Supervision, Writing – review & edit­
ing. Dany Marcelo Tasán Cruz: Methodology, Data curation, Re­
sources. Ángel Rodríguez Saiz: Methodology, Supervision, Writing –
review & editing. Evangelina Atanes-Sanchez: Methodology, Data
curation, Resources, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing –
review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
A. Asadi Ardebili et al.
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of GRUDEM and
Placo for supplying the needed materials to develop this study as well as
the Laboratorio de Materiales at the Escuela Técnica Superior de
Edificación (UPM), The Laboratorio de Análisis Químico e Instrumental
at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería y Diseño Industrial (UPM).
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