Investigation on the Suitability of Waste Plastic Bottle as Partial Replacement of Sand in a Cement Tile Production

Abstract

The rapid growth of the world's construction industry is profoundly affecting the cost of construction materials, as well as the natural resources required to produce the materials and environment. Besides, waste plastic bottles are also becoming other challenges in our surroundings due to its presence in the large amount and its non-biodegradability property. Even if various methods were attempted to manage this waste, applying it as the partial replacement for different construction materials seems feasible concerning solving the above-stated problems. The objective of this research was to investigate the competency of waste plastic bottles as partial replacement of sand in a cement tile production through conducting workability, dry density, water absorption and compressive strength test on it at the particular 7th and 21st days of curing. Experimental laboratory method used in this research design for testing some physical and mechanical properties of cement tiles. Other than this comparative method was also applied to compare different properties of controlled cement tile with cement tile made with just 3%-33% ground waste plastic bottle as sand at 3% incremental ratio and also cement tile produced by sodium hypochlorite treated plastic sand. The result showed an increment on the workability of the fresh concrete of the cement tile, decrement on the compressive strength, reduction in dry density and declined water absorption result. Finally, the study concluded the possibility of partial plastic replacement of sand in a cement tile production up to 32.11% replacement ratio for 21st day curing ages and even if the replacement above 32.11% had an adverse effect on the compressive strength and workability of cement tile, it also got an advantage with respect to dry density and water absorption. Also, the study revealed the power of sodium hypochlorite solution about improving the high physical and mechanical properties of cement tile. It recommended for the responsible parties to apply this technology in the real production process of cement tile.