The Performance of Lightweight Concrete with Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate and Polypropylene as Demising Wall

Abstract

Abstract The use of concrete has always been an important construction material used throughout the construction industry in the world. The objective of this study is to explore the potential of using lightweight concrete block mixing with plastic waste and additional plastic material as a sustainable construction material for constructing the demising wall in the current construction industry. The research is conducted quantitatively through experiments to test the density and strength of the materials. A series of experiments are conducted based on two types of plastics which are Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) as replacement of coarse aggregate and Polypropylene (PP) fibres which corresponds to the percentage of cement mass added into the concrete mix and each with a different percentage to observe the variations throughout a series of tests. The findings show that concrete mixing with 0.5 % of Polypropylene (PP) fibres showed outstanding results in the compressive strength compared to the control specimen and PET specimen. However, if comparing the amount of recycled waste incorporated into the same size of lightweight concrete block, the PET has a higher recycling rate which is 27 times the amount of PP fibres. From the findings, the research will contribute to a wider range of sustainable building materials choices for the designer or architect in the project.