An investigation of the use of plastic waste as aggregate in concrete

Plastic waste (PW) is one type of solid waste. Its disposal and management pose environmental concerns in several countries around the world. PW causes serious problems for land, soil, & water. Recycling of PW is an innovative idea or way in this field, to produce new materials like plasticized concrete (PC), or rubberized concrete, which appears as one of the best solutions for disposing of PW, due to its economic and ecological advantages. Also, with the rapid growth and development in the construction industries with higher demands for concrete, emphasis has been laid on the sustainability of the concrete constituent materials. This study explores the ameliorative effects of plastic particles (PP) on some properties of concrete. The main aim is to study, and analysis of the mechanical, acoustical, & thermal properties of sustainable concrete incorporating PP & compared it with the traditional one or normal concrete (NC). The percentage of PP used in this study varies from 0-25%. The overall results show the addition of PP to the NC to obtain a lightweight one. It caused a reduction in the compressive strength by about 40-51% from NC. Also, the added PP decreased the thermal conductivity of the PC by about 50% from NC. However, PC improved sound absorption & thermal conductivity. Results have shown that the increasing contents of PW of concrete reduced the ultrasonic pulse velocity and the intensity of sound passing through PC. The significance of this study is to provide information to reuse, reduce, and recycled solid waste (i.e., PW) & to help future researchers both in academics and in the world, Civil engineers /Structural designers/Builder, etc. with dependable information on the use recycled materials for concrete production.