## 5 Conclusions and Future Perspectives  
This study explored the environmental and economic feasibility of incorporating recycled textile and cardboard fibres into concrete through a novel Tex-crete mix. The research focused on assessing carbon emissions, production costs, and circularity potential using a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The findings indicate that Tex-crete, particularly the KFT mix (2.5% textile fibres and 5% silica fume-treated kraft fibres), demonstrates a promising balance between sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and mechanical performance, making it a viable alternative to conventional concrete. The study highlighted the environmental benefits of Tex-crete. The LCA carbon emission results show that although raw material processing introduced some additional emissions, the avoided landfill emissions associated with using recycled fibres led to an overall net reduction in embodied carbon. KFT recorded a 3.38% reduction in total carbon emissions compared to conventional concrete, while MKT and T2.5 also achieved lower emissions. Furthermore, cost analysis reveals that using waste-derived materials resulted in a net cost reduction of 2.56% for KFT, making it a cost-competitive sustainable alternative. A novel circularity index (CI) was introduced to assess the reuse, repair, and recycling potential of Tex-crete. The results indicate that KFT had the highest circularity score (0.44), outperforming other mix designs due to its balance between material substitution and structural durability. The reuse potential of Tex-crete was further validated through laboratory testing, where crushed Tex-crete aggregates were successfully reintegrated into new concrete mixes without significant strength loss. This highlights the feasibility of using end-of-life Tex-crete in secondary applications, contributing to a circular construction economy. Despite the positive outcomes, several challenges remain for the large-scale implementation of Tex-crete. Variability in waste fibre properties, the need for additional processing infrastructure, and potential regulatory barriers must be addressed before widespread industry adoption. Further research should focus on optimizing fibre composition, refining processing techniques, and conducting long-term durability studies to ensure the structural reliability of Tex-crete in diverse applications. Additionally, expanding the LCA to include full life-cycle emissions beyond the cradle-to-gate scope would provide a more comprehensive understanding of Tex-crete's long-term sustainability impact. Moreover, future studies can also focus on undertaking comparative assessment using machine learning to compare cost, environmental impact, and mechanical properties of similar sustainable concrete mixes to benchmark the overall sustainable performance. Overall, this study demonstrates that integrating recycled textile and cardboard fibres into concrete offers a viable strategy for reducing embodied carbon, lowering production costs, and enhancing circularity in the construction industry. The successful real-world case applications provide a foundation for the future commercialization of Tex-crete. With further optimization, this innovative concrete mix could serve as a sustainable alternative to conventional concrete, contributing to the broader goal of reducing environmental impacts in the built environment. Conceptualization, M.S. ; Methodology, M.S. and R.H.; Software, M.S. ; Validation, R.K.; Formal analysis, M.S. ; Resources, R.K.; Data curation, R.H.; Writing--original draft, M.S. and R.H.; Writing--review & editing, R.K., E.Y. and Z.V. ; Supervision, M.S., E.Y. and Z.V. ; Project administration, M.S., E.Y. and Z.V. ; Funding acquisition, M.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research was funded by Sustainability Victoria, grant number C-13294. Not applicable. Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.