Could recycled concrete waste become a building material instead of a burden?
At the intersection of waste and infrastructure, a University of Santo Tomas research team carried findings from Manila to Ho Chi Minh City — asking whether the rubble of demolished buildings might yet become the foundation of roads yet to be built. Presented at an international geotechnics conference in April 2026, the undergraduate study tested the structural viability of mixing recycled concrete aggregates with soil for road embankments, a question both practical and planetary in its implications. The work, now moving toward Scopus-indexed publication through Springer, places Filipino engineering scholarship within a global conversation about what resilient, circular construction might look like.
- Concrete waste accumulates at enormous scale worldwide, and the engineering community has yet to fully resolve how to redirect it from landfills into productive use.
- Road embankment failures are not theoretical — they disrupt lives, damage property, and expose the fragility of infrastructure built without sustainable material alternatives.
- A team of one faculty researcher and four undergraduates at UST ran computational slope-stability models to test whether recycled concrete fragments mixed with granular soil could bear the demands of real embankments.
- Their findings were presented at the 18th International Conference on Geotechnics, Civil Engineering and Structures in Vietnam, reaching a global audience of practitioners and scholars.
- Publication in Springer's Scopus-indexed Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering series will extend the research's reach and subject it to the scrutiny of the international engineering community.
- The study's true test lies ahead — whether its findings migrate from academic literature into building codes, material specifications, and the daily decisions of engineers designing roads.
In mid-April, a research team from the University of Santo Tomas traveled to Ho Chi Minh City carrying work that addressed two converging problems: the environmental burden of concrete waste and the engineering challenge of building stable road embankments. Assistant Professor Ryan A. Ramirez, PhD, presented findings from an undergraduate project that asked whether crushed recycled concrete — the aggregate left from demolished structures — could be safely combined with granular soil to form reliable embankment slopes.
The study was completed over the 2024–2025 academic year by Ramirez alongside four undergraduate researchers. Using computational modeling, the team conducted numerical investigations into slope stability, testing how the mixed material would behave under the stresses typical of road construction. The stakes were not abstract: embankment failures block traffic, damage property, and endanger lives. Demonstrating that recycled aggregates can perform comparably to virgin materials would carry real consequences for how the construction industry manages waste and designs infrastructure.
The conference, held April 16–17 under the theme of innovation for resilient and sustainable civil infrastructure, provided an apt stage. Beyond the presentation, the research is being prepared for publication in Springer's Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering series, which carries Scopus indexing — a mark of scholarly rigor that extends the work's reach across the international engineering community.
For UST, the presentation reflects its broader research mission. But the deeper question is what happens next: whether these findings shape engineering practice in the Philippines and beyond, influence material specifications, or contribute to a wider shift toward circular economy principles in construction. The research has entered the international conversation. Its practical legacy remains to be written.
In mid-April, a research team from the University of Santo Tomas traveled to Ho Chi Minh City to present work that sits at the intersection of two urgent problems: what to do with the mountains of concrete waste generated by construction, and how to build roads and embankments that won't fail. Assistant Professor Ryan A. Ramirez, PhD, stood before the 18th International Conference on Geotechnics, Civil Engineering and Structures to discuss findings from an undergraduate project that tested whether you could mix recycled concrete fragments with ordinary soil and use it safely to build stable slopes.
The research, completed over the 2024-2025 academic year, grew out of a collaboration between Ramirez and four undergraduate researchers: Vanessa Bianca Cadsawan, Charles Khao, Mark Kevin Ogalino, and Rendel John Reyes. Their question was specific and practical: if you took concrete that had already been crushed—the aggregate left over from demolished buildings or old pavements—and combined it with granular soil, would the resulting mixture hold up under the weight and stress of a road embankment? The answer mattered because concrete waste represents a genuine environmental burden, and if recycled aggregates could perform as well as virgin materials, the implications for construction practices would be substantial.
The team conducted numerical investigations into slope stability, using computational modeling to test how the mixed material would behave under various conditions. This wasn't abstract theorizing. Road embankments fail. When they do, they can block traffic, damage property, and in severe cases, harm people. Understanding the mechanical properties of alternative materials—especially ones that divert waste from landfills—is the kind of unglamorous but essential work that keeps infrastructure sound and sustainable.
The conference itself, held April 16-17 in Vietnam, had chosen a theme that aligned perfectly with what Ramirez and his team were investigating: "Innovation in Planning, Design and Civil Infrastructure for Resilient and Sustainable Transformation." The presentation wasn't a one-off academic exercise. The research is being prepared for publication in the Springer Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering series, which means it will be indexed in Scopus, the major international database that tracks scholarly work across disciplines. That pathway to publication signals that the work met standards for rigor and originality that extend beyond the university itself.
For a private research institution like UST, which maintains a presence among the world's top 1000 universities, such presentations and publications are part of how the institution fulfills its research mission. But the real significance lies in what happens next: whether engineers in the Philippines and elsewhere begin incorporating recycled concrete aggregates into embankment design, whether the findings influence building codes or material specifications, whether the work contributes to a broader shift toward circular economy practices in construction. The research is now in the hands of the international engineering community. What they do with it will determine whether this investigation of mixed materials becomes a footnote in academic literature or a practical tool that reshapes how roads get built.
Citações Notáveis
The research aligns with the conference theme of innovation in planning, design and civil infrastructure for resilient and sustainable transformation.— University of Santo Tomas announcement
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does it matter whether recycled concrete can be used in road embankments? Isn't concrete just concrete?
Concrete isn't inert once it's crushed. The question is whether the fragments, when mixed with soil, maintain the structural integrity needed to prevent slope failure. If they do, you've solved two problems at once: you've found a use for waste material, and you've potentially reduced the cost and environmental footprint of construction.
So this is really about waste management disguised as engineering?
It's both. The engineering has to work first. You can't use recycled material just because it's recycled—it has to perform. But if it does perform, then yes, you've created a market for something that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
How did they actually test this? Did they build a road embankment and wait to see if it collapsed?
No. They used numerical modeling—computational simulations that predict how the material would behave under stress. It's faster and cheaper than full-scale testing, though real-world validation would come later if engineers decide to try it in practice.
And now the research is published. Does that mean it will actually change how roads are built?
Publication is the beginning, not the end. It makes the findings available to engineers and policymakers. Whether they adopt it depends on whether the results are convincing enough, whether local building codes allow it, and whether the economic incentives align. But without publication, it stays locked inside the university.
What's the environmental payoff if this works at scale?
Concrete production is carbon-intensive. If you can divert even a fraction of demolition waste into new construction, you reduce both the demand for virgin materials and the volume going to landfills. The payoff isn't revolutionary, but it's real.