Water Permeability Properties of Concrete Containing Waste High Density Polyethylene

Abstract

Incorporation of waste materials such as plastics into concrete has become one of the most common techniques of sustainable waste disposal while enhancing concrete quality. This study aims to evaluate the permeability properties of concrete containing High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) that has been pulverised and chemically treated with 20% hydrogen peroxide before being used as an admixture in concrete. Concrete cubes were prepared using 150mm³ steel moulds adopting the Building Research Establishment (BRE) mix design method. The pulverised and treated HDPE was added in percentages of (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1%) by weight of cement. A superplasticiser (Hydroplast-500) was used and water/cement ratios of 0.4 and 0.36 were adopted for requisite workability respectively for grades 25 and 50 concretes. After 7, 28 and 90 days of curing in water, the concrete cubes were removed, dried and tested for permeability. Results obtained show that inclusion of pulverised HDPE to concrete significantly reduced permeability of the modified concrete up to 62% with 1% HDPE. The study recommends the use of 1% HDPE by weight of cement for the production of impermeable concrete for building and civil engineering infrastructure, while reducing environmental pollution.