Strength evaluation of utilizing recycled plastic waste and recycled crushed glass in concrete footpaths

摘要

The increasing rate of waste generation and the consequent environmental penalties of landfilling waste glass and waste plastic need global attention to pursue innovative sustainable industrial applications that can divert these wastes from landfills for useful construction activities. This study entails incorporating recycled plastic waste (RPW) and recycled crushed glass (RCG) as coarse aggregate replacement in concrete mixture and to evaluate its feasibility as concrete footpath construction. The coarse aggregates in concrete were replaced by RPW and RCG aggregates in proportions of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% was investigated. The properties of concrete evaluated in this study include uniaxial strength, tensile strength and capillary water uptake. Results from this investigation showed that incorporation of RPW and RCG in concrete can be a viable solution for the recycling of plastic waste and crushed glass in industrial applications. Although, the compressive and splitting tensile strength values of the concrete samples containing RPW and RCG aggregate were found to be reduced due to low adhesion between the recycled aggregates and the cement gel matrix as well as low aggregate crushing resistance, coarse aggregate replacement were found to be still viable up to 20% by volume for RPW and up to 30% by volume for RCG for use in footpath construction. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.