Reuse of Waste Plastic as an Alternative of Concrete Used in Blocks

Plastic production has increased globally due to the increase in the use of plastic, which results in a huge amount of plastic as waste. One of the major constituents of plastic waste is “Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)”, mainly used in drinking bottles. The recycling of plastic waste for the production of new materials appears as one of the best solutions. Hence, one broad application can be in the infrastructure development in the form of plastic blocks. This paper is focusing to utilize PET bottles for making blocks. After melting in air tight container, PET was mixed with sand, and fly ash in the presence and absence of marble powder in fixed proportions. The mixes were then used to cast specimens for determining compressive strength, heat resistance, and water absorption and their results were analysed and compared with those of conventional concrete blocks. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that these mixes have higher compressive strength, lesser water absorption, and are more resistant to heat than the Conventional Concrete used in blocks.