Rubberised Concrete as a Climate-Mitigation Strategy: Integrating AI Prediction and Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling to Assess Urban Air-Quality Impacts

Abstract

Cement production is responsible for about 7-8% of global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions; while over 1-1.6 billion tyres come to the end of their life every year. This study examines the environmental aspects of using pulverised waste tyre rubber (PWTR) as part of a concrete mix. An integrated modelling framework between global estimation of the concrete demand, the tyre utilisation modelling, the carbon footprint modelling, the atmospheric dispersion modelling, and Support Vector Machine (SVM) prediction has been established. Results show that when small percentages of the cement and sand are replaced with PWTR the compressive strength is preserved at around 24 MPa with the CO₂ emissions reduced by about 9.59 kg CO₂ per m³ of concrete. In the example of a 777.5 km infrastructure trench project, the results of this analysis estimate a recycling of about 5.3 million tyres, a saving of 4 353.76 metric tons of CO₂ and saving of 473.79 TJ of energy. Long-term simulations reveal cumulative global CO₂ savings under adoption scenarios resulting in measurable reductions in projected global temperature increase. These results show that rubberised concrete can play its role in the utilisation of waste tyres and mitigation of emissions in infrastructure construction.