Mechanical and durability properties of concrete incorporating glass and plastic waste

The main objective of this work is to contribute to the valorization of plastic and glass waste in the improvement of concrete properties. Waste glass after grinding was used as a partial replacement of the cement with a percentage of 15%. The plastic waste was cut and introduced as fibers with 1% by the total volume of the mixture. Mechanical and durability tests were conducted for various mixtures of concrete as compressive and flexural strengths, water absorption, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and acid attack. Also, other in-depth analyses were performed on samples of each variant such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (DSC-TGA), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results show that the addition of glass powder or plastic fibers or a combination of both in concrete improved in the compression and flexural strengths in the long term. The highest compressive strength was obtained in the mix which combines the two wastes about 26.72% of increase compared to the control concrete. The flexural strength increased in the mixture containing the glass powder. Therefore, the mixture with two wastes exhibits better resistance to aggressive sulfuric acid attack, and incorporating glass powder improves the ultrasonic pulse velocity

Plastic waste for the enhancement of concrete properties - a review

The consumption of different forms of plastics is interesting to the environmental protection subject. The increasing use of plastics in many areas of human daily life results in the accumulation of plastic waste in the environment. The introduction of plastic waste in concrete is a solution to preserve the environment and reduce the cost of concrete. This paper presents an overview of some published research regarding the use of waste plastic in concrete. we present the work of many researchers on the valorization of plastic waste in concrete in different forms as a partial replacement of fine and coarse aggregate as well as fibers and their effects of waste plastic addition on the fresh, mechanical, and durability of concrete. The research work seems interesting, which shows the possibility of recycling plastic waste in concrete. However, it will be interesting to explore the combined uses of plastic as aggregate and fiber in concrete, which allows a possible recovery of additional quantities of plastic waste in concrete