E-Waste Management by Utilization of E-Plastics in Concrete Mixture as Coarse Aggregate Replacement

Abstract

Utilization of waste materials and industrial by-products is a sustainable solution to environmental and ecological problems. Use of such materials makes their reutilization in cement, concrete and other construction materials, and also reduces the cost of cement and concrete manufacturing. Other indirect benefits include reduction in landfill cost, energy saving and reduction in solid waste. Electronic waste (e-waste) consists of discarded refrigerators, radios, TVs, Air conditioners, Mobile phones, computers and several other electronic gadgets that have reached their end of life or become obsolete. Efforts are being made in the construction industry to use nonbiodegradable components of e-waste as a partial replacement of the coarse or fine aggregates in concrete. This study focuses on the utilization of e-waste plastic particles in concrete and tests the feasibility of utilizing shredded e-plastic particles as partial replacement of coarse aggregate. It was observed that when e-plastic alone was used, there was a decrease in strength but when 10% fly ash was added results comparable to control specimen were obtained. It is thereby suggested that utilization of this e-waste in concrete will reduce the requirement for conventional coarse aggregates thereby resulting in conservation of natural resources.

Engineering Properties of Concrete with Waste Recycled Plastic: A Review

“…The same trend was found in lightweight self-compacting concrete, with some aggregate substituted with waste plastics ( Figure 6). The lower density of concrete with plastic aggregates can be explained by the lower specific gravity (range of 0.52 to 1.01) of waste plastic, as reported in [23,32,53].…”

“…As shown in Figure 15, water absorption increases as the percentage of plastic aggregates content increases. Water absorption in concrete increased exponentially as the percentages of recycled e-plastic content increased [23]. Almost 100% higher water absorption was noticed in concrete with 15% coarse e-plastic compared to the reference concrete.…”

“…Water absorption and porosity tests were performed by various researchers on concrete samples with plastic aggregates to evaluate the capability of this type of concrete to avoid steel corrosion [23,28,50,73]. As shown in Figure 15, water absorption increases as the percentage of plastic aggregates content increases.…”

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Waste as Partial Aggregate and Reinforcement in Reinforced Concrete: A Review

“…Therefore, many researchers studied and investigated the water absorption and porosity of concrete with plastic aggregates to evaluate its properties and if it can resist the corrosion of steel reinforcement. As the amount of plastic in concrete increases, the water absorption also increases, and in comparison, to the reference concrete, the mix with 15.0% coarse plastics has about 100.0% greater water absorption [56]. In a study, plastic aggregates as a replacement for fine aggregates by volume (10.0%, 25.0%, and 50.0%) in concrete production, and the exact amount of water absorption is around 10.0% plastic aggregates.…”

“…Conflicting results in mechanical testing (compressive and flexural) [56], [57], [32] Conflicting results in water absorption test and its connection to the amount of PET added to the concrete [60], [59] Chloride penetration test on concrete with PET [34] Lack of data regarding the enhancement of poisons' ratio of concrete [36] Degradation of PET plastics in long-term duration Furthermore, research provides contradictory results regarding concrete compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, and other factors. Although adding a small quantity of plastic trash to concrete improves its characteristics, more study is needed since this material has not been employed in the building sector owing to a lack of information about other factors.…”