The word concrete comes from the Latin word ' concretus' (meaning compact or condensed), the perfect passive participle of ' concrescere', from ' con-' (together) and ' crescere' (to grow). 9.3.1 Applications of recycled concrete aggregate.9.1 End-of-life: concrete degradation and waste.8.3 Concrete and climate change adaptation.8.2 Concrete and climate change mitigation.8.1 Concrete, cement and the environment.3.5 Mineral admixtures and blended cements.Whereas concrete is itself a building material, mortar is a bonding agent that typically holds bricks, tiles and other masonry units together. Many other non-cementitious types of concrete exist with other methods of binding aggregate together, including asphalt concrete with a bitumen binder, which is frequently used for road surfaces, and polymer concretes that use polymers as a binder. In the past, lime based cement binders, such as lime putty, were often used but sometimes with other hydraulic cements, (water resistant) such as a calcium aluminate cement or with Portland cement to form Portland cement concrete (named for its visual resemblance to Portland stone).

Most concrete is poured with reinforcing materials (such as rebar) embedded to provide tensile strength, yielding reinforced concrete. Often, additives (such as pozzolans or superplasticizers) are included in the mixture to improve the physical properties of the wet mix, delay or accelerate the curing time, or otherwise change the finished material. The hydration process is exothermic, which means ambient temperature plays a significant role in how long it takes concrete to set. This time allows concrete to not only be cast in forms but also to have a variety of tooled processes preformed.

The cement reacts with the water through a process called concrete hydration that hardens over several hours to form a hard matrix that binds the materials together into a durable stone-like material that has many uses. When aggregate is mixed with dry Portland cement and water, the mixture forms a fluid slurry that is easily poured and molded into shape. Concrete is expected to be a key material for structures resilient to climate disasters, as well as a solution to mitigate the pollution of other industries, capturing wastes such as coal fly ash or bauxite tailings and residue. Significant research and development is being done to try to reduce the emissions or make concrete a source of carbon sequestration, and increase recycled and secondary raw materials content into the mix to achieve a circular economy. Other environmental concerns include widespread illegal sand mining, impacts on the surrounding environment such as increased surface runoff or urban heat island effect, and potential public health implications from toxic ingredients. Most notably, the production process for cement produces large volumes of greenhouse gas emissions, leading to net 8% of global emissions. This widespread use results in a number of environmental impacts.

Globally, the ready-mix concrete industry, the largest segment of the concrete market, is projected to exceed $600 billion in revenue by 2025. Its usage worldwide, ton for ton, is twice that of steel, wood, plastics, and aluminum combined. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most widely used building material. A vast concrete structure - The Hoover DamĬoncrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time.

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