Use of recycled plastics in eco-efficient concrete

Abstract

In recent years, people have started cutting down on plastic consumption, as they have realized the effects plastic can have on the environment and our oceans. For example, in a recent report, published in SCIENCE magazine, researchers claim that by 2050, we will have produced more than 26 billion tons of plastic waste and that almost half of that will be dumped in landfills and the environment. A high-level scientific review that appeared in Plastic Oceans also states that eight million tons of plastic is dumped in our oceans every year. Ben Webster, the Oceans Correspondent for The Times also alleges in a recent published article that the frozen Arctic Ocean contains up to 12,000 tiny pieces of plastic per liter of sea ice, showing that even the most remote parts of the planet are highly polluted with plastic waste and in a recent study published in the Guardian, a team of Australian scientists insist that up to 90% of seabirds have plastic waste particles in their guts, which they have mistakenly mistook for fish eggs. Given the Plastic Pollution Crisis and its environmental impact, plastic is finally receiving the attention it deserves with much greater emphasis on recycling, reuse, and reduction. In recent years researchers working in the field of civil engineering have been engaged in investigations about the reuse of waste plastic in construction materials. For the first time, in one comprehensive volume, Use of Recycled Plastics in Eco-Efficient Concrete presents a state-of-the art review on the application and use of recycled plastics in concrete construction. Divided over three parts, Part 1 begins by looking at the processing of plastic waste, including different separation techniques. Part 2 focuses on the production and performance of concrete with different types of recycled plastic as an aggregate or binder replacement. Part 3 looks at the manufacturing, properties, and durability of concrete with recycled plastic fibers.