YU student team seeks to convert coronavirus medical waste ashes into environmentally friendly concrete

AMMAN — A team of civil engineering students at the Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology in Yarmouk University (YU) is preparing to participate in an international competition that will be held in the US, with a project idea of using the ash resulted from coronavirus medical waste in the production of environmentally friendly concrete, according to a statement from the university.

The project supervisor, Faris Matalkah, said that the idea of the project is to “activate the ash of medical waste by using special chemicals to produce what is called geopolymer concrete”. 

He said in the statement that the ashes of this medical waste were brought from the incinerator of King Abdullah University Hospital after treatment using special incinerators at high temperatures to get rid of harmful substances.

He added that this project aims to get rid of the medical waste ashes, in general, and the ashes of coronavirus waste, in particular, by using it in the production of environmentally friendly concrete, by chemical activation of the ash, thus reducing the environmental and health damage resulting from ash landfilling.

Matalkah said that all public health and safety procedures have been followed.

More than 100 universities will participate in the competition, he said, adding that the American Concrete Institute (ACI) will evaluate the idea of the project.

He added that the goal of the competition and the evaluation criteria is that students should demonstrate and explain how their use of concrete can positively affect the world.

The winners will be announced at the ACI Student Forum on March 30, 2021, according to the statement.