Using Plastic Sand as a Construction Material toward a Circular Economy: A Review

Abstract

Recently, research on innovative approaches to and practices for plastic waste management in a circular economy has gained momentum. Plastic waste pollution poses a serious environmental concern. At the same time, the cement industry is among the biggest sources of CO2 emissions, which poses another environmental challenge. This makes plastic sand bricks an attractive alternative to concrete blocks and bricks. This paper looks at the recent studies regarding the development of plastic sand bricks and the different percentages of plastic and sand used in the bricks. The literature review reveals that there is a lack of studies that evaluate plastic sand construction materials from an economic perspective. Such studies are essential if the industry is to invest in and adopt this alternative construction material. Plastic sand bricks could be a workable solution for combating issues related to solid waste. The compressive strength decreased with increasing ratios of plastic to sand. Plastic sand bricks weighed less than the conventional bricks. Issues requiring further investigation include: dealing with varying proportions and types of plastic, the lack of understanding of the long-term performance of plastic sand bricks, the flammability and fire resistance of plastic sand bricks, and the absence of appropriate standards and regulations for recycling plastic into plastic sand bricks. This paper allows us to look ahead in terms of some specific technical needs, the translation of the emerging technology into practice, and new ideas to decrease plastic pollution.

A scientometric analysis approach on the plastic sand

“…1 depicts the development of plastic garbage from 1950 to 2019 [ 2 ]. The existing consumption patterns and methods of waste management will result in around 12,000 million tonnes of litter made of plastic being dumped in landfills and the natural environment by the year 2050, making it one of the most difficult kinds of pollution to eliminate [ 3 ]. Thus, there have been several initiatives worldwide, particularly in industrialised nations, to transform plastic trash into valuable items [ 4 ].…”

Physico-mechanical properties of sand-plastic interlocking paving brick

“…19 It is important to note that several reported compressive strength value for PET and LDPE-sand bricks fall below 25 N/mm 2 . 13,[20][21] There is however report of up to 32.7 N/mm 2 compressive strength for LDPE-sand brick using sand grain size of 3 mm. 22 Based on sand classification by grain size, 3 mm sand grain size falls within coarse sand or sharp sand range.…”

“…22 Based on sand classification by grain size, 3 mm sand grain size falls within coarse sand or sharp sand range. 13 Our research however focuses on deployment of single use waste plastic from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and low density polyethylene (LDPE) films as a binder and sand of not more than 2 mm particle size (moderately coarse or medium sand) for production of IPB's with high compressive strength and very low water absorption percentage for application in street road construction especially in Nigeria. Sand has the capacity to improve the mechanical properties of plastics introduced as binding agent in sand-plastic composite.…”

“…Incidentally, efforts are being made both in the developed and developing countries to convert plastic waste into useful product especially for the construction industry which is at the fore front of most economies. 13 Plastic sand brick is a typical example of a polymer composite material where sand serves as the reinforcing material while plastic serves as the matrix. The reinforcement enhances the mechanical properties of the matrix which binds the reinforcement together.…”

Progress in Sustainability and Durability of Concrete and Mortar Composites

“…It is estimated that plastic wastes exceed 25 million tons per year, worldwide. Studies revealed that the use of plastic waste in construction materials resulted in a decrease in mechanical properties, but the density and the thermal conductivity of the new material decreased [15,16]. This would make the use of plastic wastes more attractive for the construction industry provided more research effort is invested in this direction.…”