Experimental study on the eco-friendly plastic-sand paver blocks by utilising plastic waste and basalt fibers
Bawar Iftikhar,
Sophia C. Alih,
Mohammadreza Vafaei,
Mujahid Ali,
Muhammad Faisal Javed,
Usama Asif,
Muhammad Ismail,
Muhammad Umer,
Yaser Gamil,
Mugahed Amran
Affiliations
Bawar Iftikhar
School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Johor Bahru Johor, Malaysia; Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus 22060, Pakistan; Corresponding author. School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Johor Bahru Johor, Malaysia.
Sophia C. Alih
Institute of Noise and Vibration, School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Johor Bahru Johor, Malaysia
Mohammadreza Vafaei
School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Johor Bahru Johor, Malaysia
Mujahid Ali
Department of Transport Systems, Traffic Engineering and Logistics, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8 Street, Katowice, Poland
Muhammad Faisal Javed
Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus 22060, Pakistan
Usama Asif
Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus 22060, Pakistan
Muhammad Ismail
Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus 22060, Pakistan
Muhammad Umer
Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus 22060, Pakistan
Yaser Gamil
Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden; Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia; Corresponding author. Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.
Mugahed Amran
Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, 11942, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia; Department of Civil Engineering, Amran University, 9677, Amran, Yemen
Plastic waste poses a significant hazard to the environment as a result of its high production rates, which endanger both the environment and its inhabitants. Similarly, another concern is the production of cement, which accounts for roughly 8% of global CO2 emissions. Thus, recycling plastic waste as a replacement for cementitious materials may be a more effective strategy for waste minimisation and cement elimination. Therefore, in this study, plastic waste (low-density polyethylene) is utilised in the production of plastic sand paver blocks without the use of cement. In addition to this, basalt fibers which is a green industrial material is also added in the production of eco-friendly plastic sand paver blocks to satisfy the standard of ASTM C902-15 of 20 N/mm2 for the light traffic. In order to make the paver blocks, the LDPE waste plastic was melted outside in the open air and then combined with sand. Variations were made to the ratio of LDPE to sand, the proportion of basalt fibers, and sand particle size. Paver blocks were evaluated for their compressive strength, water absorption, and at different temperatures. Including 0.5% percent basalt fiber of length 4 mm gives us the best result by enhancing compressive strength by 20.5% and decreasing water absorption by 50.5%. The best results were obtained with a ratio of 30:70 LDPE to sand, while the finest sand provides the greatest compressive strength. Moreover, the temperature effect was also studied from 0 to 60 °C, and the basalt fibers incorporated in plastic paver blocks showed only a 20% decrease in compressive strength at 60 °C. This research has produced eco-friendly paver blocks by removing cement and replacing it with plastic waste, which will benefit the environment, save money, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and be suitable for low-traffic areas, all of which contribute to sustainable development.
