Effects of Polyethylene Ground Plastic Waste Aggregate for Concrete Mixing Proportion

Abstract

In recent times, the production of polyethylene ground plastics has increased markedly in the Philippines. However, current levels of their usage and disposal generate several environmental problems. Recycling is one of the most important actions that are being made to reduce these impacts. The present study used polyethylene ground plastic wastes to investigate their possible use as plastic aggregate in concrete application. The shredded plastic wastes were used in concrete with partial replacement of ½ kg and 1kg by volume of conventional coarse aggregate. Three types of concrete specimens including one without plastic aggregate were used in the study for comparison. All the concrete specimens were tested for their different mechanical properties after a curing period of 28 days. Various physical properties of all aggregates and fresh concrete properties were also tested in the laboratory, these include pound per square inch (psi), Mega Pascal (MPa), Kilo Newton (KN), and the type of fracture. The test for psi, MPa, and kN resulted that concrete mixtures with 1kg ground plastic produced the best result among the three samples having 3150 Psi, 21.7 MPa, and 395.7 KN, respectively. Moreover, the specimens were loaded under a monotonic uniaxial compressive load up to failure by using MATEST hydraulic testing machine with the indicator of kN. The result showed that both standard mixtures of concrete and the standard mixture of concrete with ½ kg polyethylene ground plastic have a comparison infraction that has a result of an SW-Shear Wedge of Type 5, while the standard mixture of concrete with 1kg polyethylene ground plastic has a conical type of a fracture. Based on the several tests conducted, it is concluded that the standard concrete mixture with 1kg polyethylene ground plastic provided the best result compared to other specimens. Furthermore, the use of polyethylene ground plastic waste in the standard concrete mixture provides some advantages like on reduction of plastic wastes, prevention of environmental pollution, and energy saving.