Upcycling Automobile End-of-Life Tires for Development and Characterization of Circular Plasterboards

The number of end-of-life tires (ELTs) has increased enormously in the world during the last decades, accumulating progressively in landfills and ecosystems. For this reason, the application of secondary raw materials derived from their recycling has become one of the great challenges for today’s society. In this work, different types of prefabricated plaster products were developed incorporating recycled rubber aggregates from ELTs in different granulometries, aiming to study their feasibility to develop construction systems. It was possible to replace up to 40% of the original raw material, obtaining plasterboards that exceed the 0.18 kN flexural breaking load established by regulations. Likewise, the addition of these rubber aggregates reduced the thermal conductivity of the gypsum composites, and the thermal resistance of the lightened partitions was improved by up to 21.8% when used in conjunction with thermal break layer. On the other hand, its greater durability against the action of water was also tested, and fire resistance class B-s1, d0, was obtained. With all these positive results, this study presents a possible application of recycled rubber aggregates for the development of prefabricated plates and panels, addressing one of the main gaps in the literature, the applicability of these building materials produced under circular economy criteria in sustainable construction.