Converting Other Flexible Plastic Packaging into Fiber Reinforcement for Concrete Structures

Concrete is world’s most common construction material owing to its unique formability where it is typically reinforced with steel rebars. Nevertheless, the high tensile strength of steel rebars is usually localized, and rebars are prone to corrosion creating deterioration of infrastructure costing billions of dollars for repairs. This has resulted in using fibers into concrete called fiber reinforced concrete (FRC). This replacement technology (i.e. FRC) not only improves the quality of concrete, but it is also environmentally friendly. Most commonly, steel, glass, synthetic cellulose, carbon, etc. are used as fiber for FRC. Aside from these, this research presents the use of other flexible plastic packaging (OFPP) as reinforcement in concrete. OFPP is one of the fastest growing types of packaging, which is not easily recyclable as it comprises multiple layers of different kinds of plastics. Examples of OFPP includes stand-up/zipper lock pouches, crinkly wrappers/bags, flexible packaging with plastic seal, non-food protective wrap, net bags for onions, avocados, etc. The major steps involved in this formulation include the sorting and cleaning of OFPP (as waste) to obtain clean and usable material, which is then shredded into fibers. Upon employing a patented coating technology developed at UVic, these shredded fibers are converted into green engineered surface-treated fibers (GESTF) for casting different concrete structures, namely FRC. In order to access the performance of FRC thus obtained, a set of mechanical testing is conducted according to ASTM/CSA test standards. On accomplishing the tests, a significant improvement in concrete structure is observed in terms of compression, uniaxial tension or indirect tension, flexure, and plastic shrinkage. This research will potentially open-up a new market and process for using OFPP for improving the mechanical and early-age shrinkage properties of concrete.