Properties of Concrete Produced Using Waste Polypropylene Fiber

This study explores a novel beneficial utilization of used face masks in concrete production. Due to recent COVID-19 pandemic emergencies, personal protective equipment (PPE) usage increased tremendously. Adopting necessary changes to dispose of those wastes became essential to reduce the surge of environmental effects. The single-use face mask is among the PPE used during the pandemic in unpredictable counts. The waste face mask made up of polypropylene fiber can be used in concrete. The mechanical properties of concrete can be improved significantly by using the waste face mask as fibers. In this study, M-40 grade concrete specimens were prepared with and without waste fibers and tested for slump value, drying shrinkage, and compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strength of concrete. The finding of the present study shows the addition of 0.2% waste face mask by weight of cement used in the concrete as a fiber material marginally reduced slump value that is deemed to be acceptable; however, it improves the compressive, splitting tensile, and flexural strength by 1.85%, 8%, and 13% respectively at 28 days of testing. Furthermore, the long-term properties of the concrete do not affect due to the incorporation of the waste face make, as confirmed with the drying shrinkage test. Hence the beneficial use of the waste face mask in concrete as fiber gives double-fold benefit, one is solving the disposal issue of the waste face mask, and the other is improving the concrete mechanical properties.