High Performance Construction Materials From C&D Waste Aggregate and Recycled Plastics

Abstract:

This project deals with the innovative recycling of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste aggregate, fly ash and recycled HDPE plastic strips obtained from post-consumer water containers into a fracture resistant construction material for highway pavements. According to a 1998 USEPA estimate, a total of 196 million tons of C&D wastes were generated in the U.S. in 1996, out of which 24-66% were concrete materials. Regionally, data from Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) indicates that nearly 25% of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) stream in Florida comprises of construction and demolition (C&D) wastes, 33% of which is concrete materials. Similarly, due to the widespread availability of fly ash as a waste material, and its cementitious characteristics under certain conditions, there is lot of potential for utilizing fly ash as an alternative construction material. Moreover, a 1992 USEPA study showed that almost 20% by volume of the available landfill space!

is occupied by waste plastics. The current study combines these three solid waste materials into a high performance Roller Compacted Concrete, which is inherently resistant to the formation of load induced tensile fracture due to the presence of recycled plastic strips acting as micro reinforcements within the brittle matrix. Some guidelines are provided on the mix-design and properties of the new composite for ready incorporation into pavement construction. Such innovative recycling of solid wastes in highway applications will conserve not only our natural aggregate resources but also the rapidly depleting landfill spaces, and at the same time help mitigate the crucial solid waste disposal problem in the U.S. and other developing countries.

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