Construction of Green Concrete Incorporating Fabricated Plastic Aggregate from Waste Processing

Abstract

The recent industrial revolution has improved the quality of human life with technological advancement; adversely, it has also doubled waste generation, including plastic waste, in the last two decades. The concrete industry is under strict scrutiny to deliver tangible sustainable solutions to lessen its carbon footprint; the use of plastic waste in concrete can deliver a potential solution to these global environmental issues. In the current study, the fresh, mechanical and durability properties, including water absorption and chloride ion permeability of green concrete containing a plastic, fabricated aggregate were examined. The compressive and flexural strength gain with time was also examined and compared to reference concrete. All the mechanical parameters including compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity were found to decrease with the addition of fabricated plastic aggregates as compared to the reference concrete. The increase in the compressive strength and flexural strength at 100% replacement, with an increase in the curing period from 28 to 90 days, was 13% and 11%, respectively. The flexural deformation of green fabricated plastic aggregate concrete signposted the ductile behavior compared to the reference concrete. The concrete with 100% fabricated plastic aggregates showed an increase of 16.4% and a decrease of 68% in the water absorption and chloride ion permeability in comparison to the reference concrete, respectively. This study presents an effectual method for the utilization of plastic waste with promising results, especially for non-structural applications.