Ground Glass Pozzolans in Concrete: Data-Driven Property–Performance Relationships

While advancing a sustainable built environment is imperative, progress is currently challenged by the dual pressures of a growing housing crisis and deteriorating infrastructure, both of which are deeply concrete-reliant. Cement, the primary reactive component of concrete, remains a highly carbon-intensive material. While the current industry strategy involves partial replacement with Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs) to curb CO 2 emissions by up to 30%, this approach is facing imminent challenges. Fly ash, once abundant, is no longer available due to the phasing-out of coal-based power plants, and the supply of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) is declining due to the ongoing transition from blast furnace steel production to electric arc furnace (EAF) technology. In this context, post-consumption ground glass pozzolan (GGP) emerges as a promising alternative to reduce cement consumption. However, variation in GGP physio-chemical properties has led to scattered and sometimes contradicting performance in GGP concrete. This study conducts a large-scale bibliometric mapping using VOSviewer on 6,200 peer-reviewed articles covering glass alongside the established SCMs, which benchmarks GGP against materials whose behavior is already well documented and quantifies how little it is represented, coupled with an experimental dataset of 226 GGP concrete mixtures. Multifactor predictive modelling was implemented to evaluate how GGP chemistry and granulometry (i.e., particle size) interact with mixture design parameters to influence the mechanical and durability performance of the resulting concrete. Ordinary least squares (OLS) models fitted to the extracted variables enabled the prediction of key performance indicators. Based on the training datasets, the analyses show that cement replacement of up to 20% using GGP with mean particle size (D50) ≲ 20 µm, preserve or enhance long-term strength while significantly mitigating chloride ingress. The findings of this study support the wider implementation of GGP as a viable SCM to substantiate progress towards a sustainable built environment.