Due to population growth, urbanization and industrialization, the demand for concrete is
increasing. As a result, production of concrete has increased, which produces a large
amount of CO$_2$ emissions - the main culprit for the drastic rise in temperatures in recent
years. Classic concrete is also problematic because it depletes natural resources such as
water and natural aggregates. Due to the problems mentioned before, green solutions are
being sought that would solve both the CO2 emission problem and the waste problem.
This mostly refers to polymer materials, which are widely used, but at the are sustainable
and difficult to decompose in the environment. One of the solutions is green concrete, in
which part of the aggregate is replaced with finely ground plastic or microplastics. The
aim of the research was to evaluate how classic concrete and green concrete with
microplastics effect the growth of duckweed and the content of chlorophyll a and b in its
fronds. The results showed that different concentrations of green concrete do not
drastically affect the chlorophyll content and root length, while higher concentrations
inhibit the specific growth rate of duckweed.
|
