Increasing urban development has increased the demand for cement and cement production significantly contributes to CO2 emissions. These emissions are reduced when high volumes of cement are replaced with materials that do not give of high emissions. Sustainable development and considerations for a circular economy fuel the need to find alternative binders in concrete production that reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions and utilizes waste materials. Certain industrial wastes (fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag), municipal wastes (glass powder and ceramic waste powder) and agricultural wastes (palm oil fuel ash) have been used as a Portland cement (PC) substitute due to their pozzolanic
properties. This article discusses the high volume replacement of PC in concrete with these waste materials in terms of the strength development of concrete, its effect on the hydration mechanism, the environmental impact of its use and its relation to alkali cement
