Valorization of bakelite plastic waste aimed at auxiliary comprehensive concrete

Abstract

Bakelite plastic (BP) is a significant resource in businesses industries, yet it is a toxic material with a poor recycling rate. The rate of disposal of this waste has increased over the years. As a result, the widespread dumping of Bakelite plastic waste (BPW) has raised several severe environmental concerns. One possible solution is to use this discarded material as a conventional aggregate substitution in concrete. Environmental and ecological problems can be partially solved by reusing Bakelite waste products into concrete elements. This study analyses the behavior of concrete containing discarded Bakelite as fine aggregate at various replacement percentages. Bakelite waste material is non-recycled and serves as a limited substitution for natural grained waste. The density is a highly significant characteristic as it indicates the intrinsic strength of the building to be constructed, and Bakelite plastic is the ideal option due to its thermoplastic polymer, corrosion resistance, and ideal density. An experimental outcome has been made using Bakelite plastic waste particles as fine aggregates in concrete by substitution ranging from 0 % to 15 % with an increment of 2.5 % on the strength benchmarks of standard concrete. The tests are compressive, abrasion, impact energy, water absorption, water permeability, and microstructural properties of concrete with and without Bakelite plastic waste as aggregates were observed, exhibiting good strengths. Strength parameters were examined for optimum concrete and obtained 7.5 % BPW content in fly ash-based concrete mix outstanding strength properties.