High quantity (4.12 million kg in France in 2008) of ashes produces from the incineration of sewage sludge. The reutilization of these ashes as secondary raw materials in the building and public works was studied. A physical, chemical, mineral, and behavioral characterization showed that the sewage sludge ash have an intermediate behavior between the cement and sand, near the pozzolan. Most elements had lower release rates than limited value of inert waste or non-hazardous waste, with the exception of the leachable fraction of Se and Mo. A relationship between solubilization of elements and mineralogy of materials were studied by modeling for phase identification of the ashes. A technique part was studied to evaluate the influence of the residue (sewage sludge ash) on the mechanical properties of materials. The activity index of the ash met the specification of EN450-1 in 28 days. The strength of the mortar decreased when the substitution increased due to the high amount of water added and the low CaO content in the ash. For concrete with a substitution of 10%, the compression strength was comparable to the blank sample, and was satisfactory to the threshold of construction projects. However, the durability test showed a strong decrease of mechanical strength for the concrete containing the ashes after a freeze/thaw. An assessment of environmental impacts associates with the observation of the leaching behavior of these materials. The leaching test at laboratory scale and pilot scale were investigated. The cumulative leaching quantities of each pollutant and anions were below the threshold, without significant environmental impact, acceptable for the construction in Netherlands en in France.
