Group – 3
Kazi Larib , Kapil Tyagi , Pranshul Garg, Deepesh Chaurasiya
Using Paper Waste In Construction
Waste paper sludge:
Paper making generally produces a large amount of solid waste. Paper fibres can
be recycled only a limited number of times before they become too short or weak
to make high-quality paper, but these fibres of waste paper along with lime can be
used as a substitute or supplementary cementitious material in the construction
industry. This material waste is called waste paper sludge.
Best from waste:
To produce 1 tonne of ordinary Portland cement, manufacturers use resources like
limestone; and in order to manufacture it, an equal amount of carbon dioxide is
released into the atmosphere, which is harmful to the environment. Energy plays
an important role for developing countries like India; using industrial waste (hypo
sludge) for building materials such as cement can save energy while earning us
carbon credits. This led to testing of innovative use of waste paper sludge in
concrete formulations as a supplementary cementitious material. Investigations
were undertaken to produce low-cost concrete by blending various ratios of
cement with waste paper sludge.
Hypo-sludge concrete:
About 300 kg of waste paper sludge can be produced from each tonne of recycled
paper. This contains low calcium (CaO) and maximum calcium chloride (CaCl2)
and a minimum amount of silica (SiO2). The shiny finish on glossy magazine-type
paper is produced using a fine kaolin clay coating, which also becomes solid
waste during recycling. As waste paper sludge contains some cementitious
properties, there are possibilities to replace the cement up to some percentage. So
the concrete that contains waste paper sludge as a replacing material is known as
waste paper sludge concrete. The chemical composition of waste paper sludge is
given as:
Oxides percentage by weight
Silicon Dioxide (SiO2) 5.28%
Calcium Oxide (CaO) 47.84%
Magnesium Oxide (MgO) 6.41%
Sulphur Trioxide (SO3) 0.19%
Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) 0.09%
Ferric Oxide (Fe2O3) 0.73%
Loss on Ignition 38.26%
Compressive strength test on a 150 mm cube was done on a compression testing
[Link] specimens were de-moulded after 24 hours and subsequently
immersed in water for different ages of [Link] results at seven, 14, 28, 56 and
90 days are presented as:
% Replacement
of Cement by
Hypo Sludge
7 Days 14 Days
0% 34.81 45.04
10 % 36.59 46.52
20 % 34.22 39.11
30 % 24.30 27.85
40 % 20.36 23.26
Advantages and disadvantages:
As for its advantages, it provides an effective option to produce economical
concrete, minimizes environmental degradation owing to cement production (CO2
emission), and safeguards the ozone layer from greenhouse gases. It can be an
easily adoptable option for partial replacement of cement while using paper
industry waste usefully. It reduces the cost of construction for concrete members,
promoting the development of low-cost housing for the economically weak.
Further, it helps achieve design accreditations or certifications from the Indian
Green Building Council (IGBC), Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design
(LEED), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Green Rating for Integrated
Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), etc.
And, as for its disadvantages, it contains a high amount of chlorine, which is
difficult to handle. It is generally found in slurry form; hence, in order to mix it with
cement, one has to remove water from it and make it dry. It is difficult to collect it
in bulk quantity.
Cost:
While this material has not been used in the commercial space as yet, it would
cost a developer between 20-50 paise per kg, depending on transportation. The
cost of concrete with various percentage % replacement of cement by waste paper
sludge is computed for 1 cum of concrete. As hypo sludge increases, the cost
decreases.
Total % Change
Cost in Cost
[cu m]
Cement Fine Coarse Waste
[kg/cu m] aggregate aggregate paper % reduction in
Total cost
[kg/cu m] [kg/cu m] sludge costing
[kg/cu m]
473.68 341.91 751.14 0 4,159.24 0
426.31 341.91 851.58 47.37 3,884.50 (-) 6.60
378.94 341.91 851.58 94.74 3,609.75 (-) 13.21
331.58 341.91 851.58 142.10 3,335.06 (-) 19.81
284.21 341.91 851.58 189.47 3,060.32 (-) 26.42
In conclusion
Based on limited experimental investigations concerning the compressive strength
test of concrete, the following observations can be made:
For M40 grade of concrete, 20 per cent waste paper sludge replacement
with cement gives design strength at 28 days.
The mixes reflect progressive gain in strength linearly from the age of seven
to 90 days.
The use of waste paper sludge in concrete can save the paper industry
disposal costs and produces a ´greener´ concrete.
The cost analysis indicates that percentage cement reduction (20 per cent)
decreases cost of concrete (-) 13.21 per cent, but at the same time strength
also decreases.
This research concludes that waste paper sludge can be an innovative
supplementary cementitious construction material, but judicious decisions
must be taken by engineers.
References:
H. S. Peavy, D. R Rowe, G. Tchobanoglou, Environmental engineering, McGraw-
Hill, 1984 . R. L. Schroeder, “The use of recycled materials in highway construction”,
Public Roads, Vol. 58, No. 2, 1994, available at:
[Link] [3] VicRoads,
“Recycled materials in pavement construction”, 2014 . A. O. Ibhadode,
Environmental pollution: causes, effects and solutions, Ambik Press, Nigeria, 2004
V. Sangrutsamee, Panya Srichandr, Nuchthana Poolthong, “Re-pulped waste
paper–based composite building materials with low thermal conductivity”, Journal of
Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, Vol. 11, pp. 147-151, 2012 [6] S.
Modry, “Use of Waste Paper as a Constituent of Concrete” in Recovery and
recycling of paper international symposium, Thomas Telford Publishing, United
Kingdom, pp. 77-80, 2001 J. D. Decard, R. P. West, S. J. Prichard, “The impact
response of recycled paper waste concrete”, in Recovery and recycling of paper
international symposium, Thomas Telford Publishing, United Kingdom, pp. 81-92,
2001 .J. S. Manuel, “How do paper houses stack up?”, Journal on Environmental
Health Perspective, Vol. 3, No. 110, p. 126, 2002 C. Aciu, D. A. Ilutiu-Varvara, N.
Cobirzan, A. Balog, “Recycling of Paper Waste in the composition of plastering
