Development of Recycled Air-filled PET Bottle Blocks for Cavity Wall Construction

Abstract

This study examines the prospect of using PET bottles in mortar block for cavity wall construction in respect of compressive strength and cost. 500-mL air-filled waste plastic bottles encased by mortar plaster worked as the voids in the masonry units. Three different type of blocks B1, B2, B3 were prepared with the cement sand proportion 1:3, 1:3.5 and 1:4 respectively. Result shows that the strength decreased with the reduction of the proportion of cement. The maximum compressive strength found in B1which was 5.21 MPa after 7 days and 9.29 after 28 days of curing. B2 and B3 also shows 74% and 71% increase in strength as they reach the curing age of 28 days. The comparison of cost for wall construction with both bottle block and hollow concrete block shows, for external wall, the material cost can be reduced by 27% in the case of bottle block. So it can be used as a sustainable alternative of hollow concrete blocks in terms of strength and cost for cavity wall construction and have a great effect on plastic waste management. Key Words: Waste PET Bottles, Hollow Block, Compressive strength, Cost analysis.