The growing amount of non-biodegradable solid waste, especially waste glass, is a major environmental issue. Simultaneously, the carbon footprint related to the production of cement is very high, and the creation of an alternative concrete technology needs to be developed in a sustainable way. The paper discusses the feasibility of partially replacing 10%, 20%, and 30% of cement weight with green glass powder alongside 1% superplasticizer to produce sustainable concrete. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the entire correlation between mechanical properties and microstructural behavior is revealed, with particular emphasis on the densification of the matrix and the refinement of the interfacial transition zone. Experimental program involved compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, dynamic modulus of elasticity, and scanning electron microscopy tests. The findings indicated that the glass powder significantly enhanced the mechanical properties up to the optimal replacement level of 20% at the age of 28 days. The overall performance of the G20%-HRWRA mixture was the best, with a compressive strength of 58 MPa, a splitting tensile strength of 5.05 MPa, and a dynamic modulus of elasticity of 41 GPa, which was an increase of 30.34%, 67.00%, and 14.21%, respectively, compared with the reference mixture. SEM observations indicated that there was a highly dense cementitious matrix that had low-calcium hydroxide content and a refined ITZ. Overall, the findings show that incorporating 20% green glass powder and 1% superplasticizer is a sustainable solution for producing concrete.
