Production of Recycled Plastic Aggregates and Its Utilization in Concrete
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 29, Issue 4
Abstract
Plastic represents an environmental issue, as only 7% of it is recycled. The plastic remaining is either burned, disposed of in an uncontrolled manner, or landfilled. Thus, to reduce the quantity of plastic that is disposed of, there is a need to increase the amount of the material that enters various product streams. This includes its use in the construction industry, and more particularly in concrete, which uses large quantities of aggregate. A novel aggregate (RPA) comprising recycled plastic was developed. The aggregate produced was lightweight, with a density ranging from 510 to and absorption of from 2.7 to 9.81%. Other properties were comparable to aggregates of similar densities. Various composition RPA was used in concrete, and the resulting properties of both fresh and cured concrete were measured. For a given water to cement (w/c) ratio, it was possible to achieve slump of between 40 and 220 mm and fresh density of between 1,827 and . Further, 28-day strengths of between 14 and 18 MPa were achieved. Flexural strength was also measured. SEM analysis was undertaken to view the structure of the aggregate and the interface between the RPA and the cement matrix.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to King Saud University (KSU) and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology for sponsoring and funding this research project and to the University of Birmingham for the academic and supervision assistance. Also, the authors would like to thank SABIC for supporting this research. The authors also extend their appreciations to the CoE-CRT Center of Excellence and the laboratory staff of KSU for their full assistance during laboratory work.
References
ACI (American Concrete Institute). (1998). “Standard practice for selecting proportions for structural lightweight concrete.”, Farmington Hills, MI.
Akçaözoğlu, S., Atiş, C. D., and Akçaözoğlu, K. (2010). “An investigation on the use of shredded waste PET bottles as aggregate in lightweight concrete.” Waste Manage., 30(2), 285–290.
Albano, C., Camacho, N., Hernandez, M., Matheus, A., and Gutierrez, A. (2009). “Influence of content and particle size of waste pet bottles on concrete behavior at different w/c ratios.” Waste Manage., 29(10), 2707–2716.
Al-Manaseer, A. A., and Dalal, T. R. (1997). “Concrete containing plastic aggregates.” Concr. Int., 19(8), 47–52.
Alobaidi, I. M., Ghataora, G. S., Billam, J., and Coombs, R. (2000). “The use of permeable materials for backfilling trenches.” Proc. Inst. Civil Eng. Trans., 141(3), 151–159.
Alqahtani, F. K., Ghataora, G., Khan, M. I., Dirar, S., Kioul, A., and Al-Otaibi, M. (2015). “Lightweight concrete containing recycled plastic aggregates.” 2015 ICMEP, Atlantis Press, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
ASTM. (2001). “Standard test methods for compressive strength of chemical-resistant mortars, grouts, monolithic surfacings and polymer concretes.” ASTM C579-01, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2004). “Standard specification for lightweight aggregates for structural concrete.” ASTM C330-04, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2011). “Standard test method for ignition loss of cured reinforced resins.” ASTM D2584, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2012). “Standard test method for flexural strength and modulus of elasticity of chemical-resistant mortars, grouts, monolithic surfacings and polymer concretes.” ASTM C580-02, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2014a). “Standard test method for density (unit weight), yield, and air content (gravimetric) of concrete.” ASTM C138/C138M-14, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2014b). “Standard test method for sieve analysis of fine and coarse aggregates.” ASTM C136, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2015). “Standard test method for slump of hydraulic-cement concrete.” ASTM C143/C143M-15, West Conshohocken, PA.
Babu, D. S., Babu, K. G., and Wee, T. H. (2005). “Properties of lightweight expanded polystyrene aggregate concretes containing fly ash.” Cem. Concr. Res., 35(6), 1218–1223.
Batayneh, M., Marie, I., and Asi, I. (2007). “Use of selected waste materials in concrete mixes.” Waste Manage., 27(12), 1870–1876.
Bedick, R. C. (1995). “Report to Congress—Barriers to the increased utlization of coal combustion/desulfurization byproducts by governmental and commercial sectors.” Proc., 11th Int. Symp. on Use and Management of Coal Combustion By-Products (CCB’s), American Coal Ash Association and Electric Power Research Institute, Orlando, FL.
Birckhead, R. L. (1995). “Impact of changing state and federal regulations on ash management at Virginia power.” Proc., 11th Int. Symp. on Use and Management of Coal Combustion By-Products (CCB’s), American Coal Ash Association and Electric Power Research Institute, Orlando, FL, 1–49.
Blanco, F., García, P., Mateos, P., and Ayala, J. (2000). “Characteristics and properties of lightweight concrete manufactured with cenospheres.” Cem. Concr. Res., 30(11), 1715–1722.
Block, D. G. (2016). “Recycled resin prices likely to follow same pattern as 2015.” Plastic Technology Magazine, Cincinnati.
BS (British Standard). (2009). “Hardened density of test specimens.” BS EN 12390-7, London.
Choi, Y. W., Moon, D. J., Chung, J. S., and Cho, S. K. (2005). “Effects of waste PET bottles aggregate on the properties of concrete.” Cem. Concr. Res., 35(4), 776–781.
Choi, Y. W., Moon, D. J., Kim, Y. J., and Lachemi, M. (2009). “Characteristics of mortar and concrete containing fine aggregate manufactured from recycled waste polyethylene terephthalate bottles.” Constr. Build. Mater., 23(8), 2829–2835.
DG Environment. (2011). “Plastic waste in the environment.” ⟨http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/studies/pdf/plastics.pdf⟩ (May 27, 2015).
Dunster, A. M., Moulinier, F., Abbott, B., Conroy, A., Adams, K., and Widyatmoko, D. (2005). “Added value of using new industrial waste streams as secondary aggregates in both concrete and asphalt.”, Banbury, Oxon, U.K., 1–13.
EPA. (1996). “Characterization of municipal solid waste in the United States, 1995 update.” United State Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, DC, 1–139.
EPA. (2015). “Advancing sustainable materials management: 2013 fact sheet.” ⟨https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/2013_advncng_smm_fs.pdf⟩ (Jun. 21, 2016).
Fredonia. (2012). “Global demand for construction aggregates in 2015, demand and sales forecasts.” ⟨http://www.freedoniagroup.com⟩ (May 23, 2015).
Frigione. (2010). “Recycling of PET bottles as fine aggregate in concrete.” Waste Manage., 30(6), 1101–1106.
Ghataora, G. S., and Alobaidi, I. M. (2000). “Assessment of the performance of trial trenches backfilled with cementitious materials.” Int. J. Pavement Eng., 1(4), 297–316.
Gu, L., and Ozbakkaloglu, T. (2016). “Use of recycled plastics in concrete: A critical review.” Waste Manage., 51, 19–42.
Hannawi, K., Kamali-Bernard, S., and Prince, W. (2010). “Physical and mechanical properties of mortars containing PET and PC waste aggregates.” Waste Manage., 30(11), 2312–2320.
Ismail, Z. Z., and Al-Hashmi, E. A. (2008). “Use of waste plastic in concrete mixture as aggregate replacement.” Waste Manage., 28(11), 2041–2047.
Jansen, D., et al. (2001). “Lightweight fly ash-plastic aggregates in concrete.” Transp. Res. Rec., 1775, 44–52.
Junod, T. L. (1976). “Gaseous emissions and toxic hazards associated with plastics in fire situations: A literature review.” NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland.
Kaplan, M. F. (1959). “Flexural and compressive strength of concrete as affected by the properties of coarse aggregates.” ACI J. Proc., 55(5), 1193–1208.
Kashi, M. G., Swan, C., Holmstrom, O., and Malloy, R. (1999). “Innovative lightweight synthetic aggregates developed from coal fly ash.” Proc., 13th Int. Symp. on Use and Management of Coal Combustion Products (CCPs), American Coal Ash Association, Alexandria, VA, 5-1–5-14.
Kohno, K., Okamoto, T., Isikawa, Y., Sibata, T., and Mori, H. (1999). “Effects of artificial lightweight aggregate on autogenous shrinkage of concrete.” Cem. Concr. Res., 29(4), 611–614.
LYTAG. (2016). “What is Lytag.” ⟨http://www.lytag.com/about⟩ (Jun. 20, 2016).
Malloy, R., Desai, N., Wilson, C., Swan, C., Jansen, D., and Kashi, M. (2001). “High carbon fly ash/mixed thermoplastic aggregate for use in lightweight concrete.” ANTEC 2001 Plastics: The Lone Star, Society of Plastics Engineers Annual Conf., Dallas, 2743–2751.
Marzouk, O. Y., Dheilly, R. M., and Queneudec, M. (2007). “Valorization of post-consumer waste plastic in cementitious concrete composites.” Waste Manage., 27(2), 310–318.
Panyakapo, P., and Panyakapo, M. (2008). “Reuse of thermosetting plastic waste for lightweight concrete.” Waste Manage., 28(9), 1581–1588.
Pappu, A., Saxena, M., and Asolekar, S. R. (2007). “Solid wastes generation in India and their recycling potential in building materials.” Build. Environ., 42(6), 2311–2320.
Phillips, P., and Richards, G. (2004). “The use of mixed polymer waste products to produce paving grade asphalt.” Proc., 3rd Eurasphalt and Eurobitume Congress, Foundation Eurasphalt, Vienna, Austria, 1171–1180.
Rahman, M. M., Islam, M. A., and Ahmed, M. (2012). “Recycling of waste polymeric materials as a partial replacement for aggregate in concrete.” Int. Conf. on Chemical, Environmental and Biological Sciences (ICCEBS’12), Penang, Malaysia, 99–102.
Rahmani, E., Dehestani, M., Beygi, M. H. A., Allahyari, H., and Nikbin, I. M. (2013). “On the mechanical properties of concrete containing waste PET particles.” Constr. Build. Mater., 47, 1302–1308.
Rossignolo, J. A., and Agnesini, M. V. (2002). “Mechanical properties of polymer-modified lightweight aggregate concrete.” Cem. Concr. Res., 32(3), 329–334.
Saikia, N., and de Brito, J. (2014). “Mechanical properties and abrasion behaviour of concrete containing shredded PET bottle waste as a partial substitution of natural aggregate.” Constr. Build. Mater., 52, 236–244.
Siddique, R., Khatib, J., and Kaur, I. (2008). “Use of recycled plastic in concrete: A review.” Waste Manage., 28(10), 1835–1852.
Statista. (2014). “Worldwide plastics production.” ⟨http://www.statista.com/statistics/282732/global-production-of-plastics-since-1950/⟩ (Mar. 29, 2016).
Swan, C. W., and Sacks, A. (2005). “Properties of synthetic lightweight aggregates for use in pavement systems.” Proc., Adv. Pavement Eng., Austin, TX, 1–12.
USGS (U.S. Geological Survey). (2015). “Mineral commodity summaries 2015.” ⟨https://doi.org/10.3133/70140094⟩ (Jun. 20, 2016).
Wong, S. F. (2010). “Use of recycled plastics in a pavement system.” 35th Int. Conf. on Our World in Concrete and Structures, Ci-premier Pte Ltd., Singapore, 25–27.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 29 • Issue 4 • April 2017
Copyright
©2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 10, 2016
Accepted: Jul 27, 2016
Published online: Oct 26, 2016
Discussion open until: Mar 26, 2017
Published in print: Apr 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.