Sustainable Management of Calcite Contaminated with Waste Toner Powder in the Construction Industry

Abstract

Due to the highly explosive nature of toners, absorbers are used in toner processing plants to prevent the explosion of toner dust suspension in the air. Usually, finely divided calcite (in the form of a dust) is used. The mixture of toner-calcite is treated as waste and landfilled. The main aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using toner-contaminated calcite as an additive to concrete. Materials originating from the toner processing plant were analyzed by using TGA, AAS, XRD, FTIR and SEM techniques. Calcite-waste toner powder mixture in amounts 0%, 1%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% were used to produce concrete. The results of the study showed that an increase in the amount of calcite contaminated with toner to 20% causes a decrease in compressive strength of concrete by 24–51% depending on material sample. The addition of calcite in amounts up to 5% can be a suitable method of its management.