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Mgr inż. Jacek Kostrzewa
ORCID: 0000-0002-9845-8508

PhD Candidate at the Doctoral School of the Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Building Services, Hydro and Environmental Engineering. He represents the scientific discipline: civil engineering, geodesy and transport. His scientific activity focuses on the circular economy in the wastewater sector and the possibilities of using waste recovered in the wastewater treatment plant as alternative raw materials in construction. Geotechnics enthusiast. Grant holder of two research grants and researcher of two other grants. Scholarship holder at the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

 
DOI: 10.33226/1231-2037.2023.3.3
JEL: L74, Q01, Q34, Q53

Sand is a globally mined natural resource. It is applied, among others, in construction, because sand is one of the main components of concrete mixtures and a material used in earthworks. The aim of the manuscript is to organize the state of knowledge regarding the management of sandy waste generated in wastewater treatment plants and to indicate the possibilities of using this waste as an alternative raw material in construction applications. The main thesis is the claim that sand recovered in wastewater treatment plants, perceived as waste, can be an alternative for the global economy to obtain a significant amount of raw material for various uses in construction and to replace natural raw materials extracted for industry. The paper presents data on natural sand resources and its use, the effects of uncontrolled exploitation of the worlds sand resources and the potential of the Polish sand resource base. Particular attention was paid to the review of the possibilities of using sandy waste generated in wastewater treatment plants as an alternative raw material for natural sand resources. The practical applications of sand obtained in the processes used in wastewater treatment plants were also presented.

Keywords: sand; mineral waste; sandy waste generated in wastewater treatment plants; circular economy; natural resources (piasek; odpady mineralne; odpady piaszczyste powstające w oczyszczalniach ścieków; gospodarka o obiegu zamkniętym; zasoby naturalne)