Eco-friendly bricks and tuff tiles from agricultural and industrial waste: advancing the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals

The construction industry in Pakistan faces significant challenges, including high material costs, environmental degradation, and inefficient waste management. This study addresses these issues by developing eco-friendly bricks and tuff tiles incorporating various agricultural byproducts and industrial wastes in different proportions. A comprehensive experimental analysis, including density tests, compressive strength measurements, water absorption evaluation, and microstructural analysis using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), was conducted to assess the material performance of the developed eco-friendly tuff tiles/bricks. The XRD finding affirms the crystalline phase of developed samples, which is required to enhance strength, stability, and long-term performance. The other results show that incorporating these waste materials (with rice husk) reduces water absorption by up to 1% in bricks and 9% in tuff tiles, while the compressive strength reaches up to 9 MPa for bricks and 32.3 MPa for tuff tiles (with sugarcane bagasse ash), comparable to the recommended compressive strength with few exceptions. The results indicate a density range of about 1.5 and 2.0 g/cm³. Cost analysis reveals that production costs can be lowered by 14% for bricks and 4% for tuff tiles compared to conventional products. This research offers a novel, practical framework for sustainable construction practices in Pakistan and the Globe by effectively utilizing underexploited agricultural and industrial byproducts, thus providing economically viable and environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional building materials. It is also worth mentioning that this work directly aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).