Sintered glass-ceramics have been prepared from the powder mixtures of waste glass and fly ash with the addition of magnesia. The sinter-crystallization behavior of glass-ceramics was investigated in terms of densification and differential thermal analysis. The bulk density of sintered glass-ceramics decreased with increasing the magnesia content, suggesting the hindrance effect of magnesia on the sintering process. With the increase in the sintering temperature, the bulk density firstly increased and then decreased, showing a maximum value of 1.94 g/cm(3) at 1000 degrees C. The crystalline structure of glass ceramics consisted of pyroxene and forsterite, and the crystallinity increased with increasing the magnesia content. The enhancement in the flexural strength of glass-ceramics was substantially influenced by three factors including porosity, crystallinity and crystal shape anisotropy. Fast sintering improved the densification, and thus increased the flexural strength of glass-ceramics. The simple sintering process and the relatively high strength of glass-ceramics shed light on the potential application of waste materials in the construction tiles. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.