LAUSR

Abstract Municipal sewage sludge incineration ash (MSSIA) is commonly used as a raw material in concrete, but few studies have focused on the long-term environmental tolerance of municipal sewage sludge incineration ash concrete (MSSIAC). In this study, acid rain leaching, salt erosion, and freezing-thawing tests were used to evaluate the long-term environmental behavior of the optimal MSSIAC formulation. One optimal MSSIAC formulation replaces 5% MSSIA, and results in a 7.2% increase in unconfined compressive strength (UCS), indicating that MSSIA-amended concrete can have enhanced UCS. Only Zn was released from the optimal MSSIAC formulations (replacing 5% or 10% MSSIA) in the acid rain leaching test, but only up to 0.071 mg Zn L−1, which was within the acceptable environmental range. No heavy metals were released at concentrations above the method detection limits in the salt erosion and freezing-thawing tests. The optimal MSSIAC formulations have excellent long-term environmental tolerance while meeting the requirement of UCS, and provide a valuable use for MSSIA.