Vol.:(0123456789) Transactions of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (2020) 5:437–448 https://doi.org/10.1007/s41403-020-00100-2 123 REVIEW ARTICLE A Way Forward in Waste Management of Red Mud/Bauxite Residue in Building and Construction Industry Suchita Rai 1  · Sneha Bahadure 1  · M. J. Chaddha 1  · A. Agnihotri 1 Received: 18 March 2020 / Revised: 8 May 2020 / Accepted: 11 May 2020 / Published online: 22 May 2020 © Indian National Academy of Engineering 2020 Abstract In the Bayer’s process of extracting alumina from bauxite using caustic soda, the waste generated is called as red mud/ bauxite residue. About 1–2.5 tonne of bauxite residue is generated per tonne of alumina produced depending upon the bauxite and process conditions used. It is generally stockpiled into the red mud ponds situated near the industrial area and is highly alkaline which is a matter of environmental concern. Hence it becomes necessary to look upon its waste manage- ment and utilization for various applications. This paper is an endeavour to focus upon the eforts taken by the researchers worldwide to make use of red mud in building and construction industry. It projects Indian and world bauxite and alumina scenario. Chemical composition of red mud generated in diferent countries has been presented. Work carried out on the sub-applications of building and construction such as bricks, ceramics, cement, geopolymers, clay materials, slag treatment, road construction, and fllers has been described. Pilot plant/commercialization in this application area till date has been mentioned. Issues which are restricting use of red mud in building and construction have been discussed. Some guidelines for the appropriate management and utilization of red mud have been stated. Keywords Red mud/bauxite residue · Building and construction · Brick · Cement · Ceramics · Geopolymers Introduction Globally, aluminium is the second most used metal after steel and third most abundant element present in the earth’s crust. Aluminium is not found in the free state but it occurs in the form of hydrated oxides or silicates. Due to its proper- ties such as lighter in weight, high strength and recyclable property, aluminium metal has wide range of applications in transportation, food and beverage packaging, infrastruc- ture, building and construction, electronics and electrifca- tion, aerospace and defence which ultimately contributes in social progress of the country. Bauxite ore is commercially used for producing aluminium, as it contains high quantity of alumina with minerals like silica, iron oxide, titanium, and other impurities in minor or trace amount. Bayer’s process is found to be technically and most economically viable process for extraction of alumina from bauxite. The Bayer’s process is basically a chemical enrichment process which separates alumina from undesired components pre- sent in bauxite ore using caustic soda solution at elevated temperature. The solid byproduct (mixture of sodium alu- minosilicates and oxides of undigested aluminium, iron and titanium) is treated by washing and fltration which is called as bauxite residue/red mud. Red mud consists of undigested alumina, silica and insoluble constituents such as iron and titanium along with caustic soda. The schematic diagram of the Bayer’s process is given in Fig. 1 (Dentoni et al. 2014). Globally about 150 million tonnes of bauxite residue is generated (Evans 2016). About 2.5 billion tonnes of red mud lies stored in land deposits (Dentoni et al. 2014). Owing to its disposal in huge amount, red mud becomes difcult to handle and manage in a proper way. In the initial years of alumina production due to less attention of industries towards the safe disposal of red mud, it has got stockpiled * Suchita Rai suchitarai1968@gmail.com Sneha Bahadure bahaduresneha28@gmail.com M. J. Chaddha mukeshchaddha1@yahoo.com A. Agnihotri aaagnihotri@gmail.com 1 Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC), Wadi, Amravati Road, Nagpur, Maharashtra 440 023, India