There is an increasing demand for uses of rubber in various industries and household because of its unique properties (eg, high elasticity and durability). It has been reported that the world rubber production was 26.9 million tonnes in 2016, and it increased at an estimated rate of 2.8% annually. 1 Consequently, management of such massive waste rubber products becomes very challenging because their disposal generates large negative impacts on the ecological environments, public health, and economic efficiency. In Australia, 197,000 tonnes of waste tyres were produced in 2004, and it was predicted to increase at a rate of 2.0% annually. 2 It is even reported that approximately 51 million tyres are discarded in 2013 which shows increasing trend in recent years with population expansion. 3 Although great efforts have been made, over two third of these wastes are either treated by incineration or buried in landfills. These traditional methods cause severe emission of harmful gases into air and contaminate the soil by releasing toxic substances. Recently, many researchers have developed multifunctional building materials using waste rubber products. One of the examples is to partially substitute aggregates with rubber crumbs in concrete. Such an application can be dated back to 1990s. Researchers found that the concrete having aggregates partially replaced by rubber crumbs with various particle sizes illustrated lower compressive and splitting tensile strengths but higher ductility. 4 Since then, many studies on the effects of rubber crumbs on concrete have mushroomed, ranging from the physical properties, mechanical properties, durability such as freeze-thaw resistance, abrasion resistance, carbonation, corrosion resistance etc. and special functions of sound and vibration absorption ability. 5