earticle

영어

Urbanization with advanced technology has led to an increase of waste being generated leading to a waste disposal crisis. In order to reduce the accumulation of waste materials, this study aims to reuse plastic bottles to substitute a percentage of the primary materials used for concrete bricks. The feasibility of waste plastic bottles as cement additive in concrete was investigated. Plastic is a suitable study subject because it is sufficiently strong, can be used for load bearing structural materials and possesses excellent corrosion, moisture, and chemical resistance. Waste plastic bottles were collected, washed, air-dried for 24 hours, and cut into squares that measured no more than 1 cm. Rectangular concrete blocks were casted using 1:3:6:0.5 mass mix ratio of cement, sand, gravel, and water. A 0%, 10%, and 20% additive level of cement and waste plastic bottles was done in three replicates. Mechanical compressive strength was tested after 21 days of curing. Data shows that the compressive strength of concrete after 21 days of curing was 0.00306 MPa (control), 0.00303 MPa (with 10% waste plastic bottles), and 0.00103 MPa (with 20% waste plastic bottles). Results show that adding 10% waste plastic bottles to the cement mixture has similar compressive strength to that of the control group, while adding 20% waste plastic bottles to the cement mixtures shows a lower compressive strength than that of the control group. Results therefore suggest that using waste plastic bottles reinforces the mechanical compressive strength of the concrete brick.