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Experimental Tests on Lightweight Cement Mortar and Concrete with Recycled Plastic Wastes
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This paper is not relevant to microplastics research — it tests the mechanical properties of cement mortar and concrete incorporating recycled plastic waste granules as aggregate substitutes, a construction materials engineering study.
The management of plastic waste has become a fundamental issue in recent decades and several studies have focused on finding proper solutions to recycle and reuse these secondary raw materials in different sectors. Using plastic waste in the building sector allows for long-term application and reduces the number of times the recycling process is needed. This research focuses on experimenting with two building products, namely lightweight screed and concrete, with the addition of plastic waste in the form of irregular granules. The screed was produced by adding plastic granules of different sizes, while the concrete was produced by replacing different percentages of the coarse and fine aggregates with plastic granules and pulverized plastic. The screed has been tested under compressive and three-point bending tests, while the concrete has only been tested under compressive tests. The results have shown that the addition of plastic waste in both products led to the desired weight reduction. On one hand, plastic waste have provided a decrease in both tensile (−16%) and compressive (−25%) strengths of the screed with an increase of ultimate tensile strain (+60%). On the other hand, the only acceptable concrete mixture resulted to be the one with 25% of aggregates substitution, which exhibited a decrease in compressive strength (−40%) and an increase of ultimate strain (+38%), whereas samples with higher percentages of plastic aggregates have been not considered to be suitable as building materials.
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This review evaluates the use of plastic waste as a substitute material in concrete, analyzing its effects on mechanical strength, durability, and microstructure to assess its viability as a sustainable construction approach.
Recycled Mixed Plastic Fine Aggregate in Cement Concrete
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Cement concrete mixtures incorporating mixed post-consumer recycled plastic as fine aggregate were characterized, finding that an optimized blend of polymer types produced workable concrete with mechanical properties suitable for construction applications.
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Researchers partially replaced fine aggregate in concrete mixtures with processed PET and other waste plastic particles and found an optimal replacement level that preserved acceptable compressive and tensile strength while reducing density, beyond which plastic-to-cement bonding degraded mechanical performance, suggesting a viable route for incorporating plastic waste into lightweight non-structural construction.
Assessment of Plastic-Infused Concrete Bricks and Their Suitability for Interlocking: Mechanical, Durability, and Environmental Perspectives
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Researchers tested plastic-infused concrete bricks as a way to repurpose plastic waste in construction materials, evaluating their mechanical strength and suitability for different building applications. The study explores whether incorporating plastic waste into durable materials can reduce the plastic entering the environment as microplastics.
A Step towards Sustainable Concrete by Replacing Plastic Waste in Concrete: A Summary of its Mechanical Properties
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This study reviewed the use of plastic waste as aggregate or fiber in cement mortar and concrete, finding that plastic fibers enhanced mechanical performance while plastic coarse aggregates impaired concrete quality due to poor bonding. The review identifies research gaps and calls for further optimization to improve plastic-based concrete performance.
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