Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Experimental investigation of concrete incorporating HDPE plastic waste

and metakaolin
V. Punitha, N. Sakthieswaran, O. Ganesh Babu
Department of Civil Engineering, Anna University Regional Campus-Tirunelveli, Tirunelveli 627007, Tamilnadu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper deals with the investigation of using Metakaolin and HDPE plastic waste with various percent-
Received 17 May 2020 ages in concrete to make the concrete economical with desired properties and to reduce the consumption
Received in revised form 27 May 2020 of naturally available construction materials. Six percentages of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Plastic
Accepted 13 June 2020
powder (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%) and 10% metakaolin are incorporated with the weight of fine
Available online xxxx
aggregate and cement respectively. The concrete with 10% metakaolin and 15% HDPE plastic powder
gives better result on compressive strength in comparison with conventional concrete. The flexural
Keywords:
strength and split tensile strength of concrete shows up to 80% and 90% replacement with 10% metakao-
HDPE plastic powder
Fine aggregate
lin and 5% HDPE plastic powder respectively.
Metakaolin Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cement Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International
Compressive strength Conference on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering: Materials Science.

1. Introduction incorporation of plastic content [1]. Rajat Saxena et al., described

Due to the utilization of river sand in a large amount, there is a
demand for fine aggregate in making concrete. Hence, plastic waste
is used as an alternative material which is discarded in landfill and
causing environmental issues. The use of waste plastics in concrete
enhances the mechanical properties of concrete and is a good
water resisting material. To get the better result the HDPE plastic
wastes are pulverized to a fine powder and are partially replaced
with various percentages (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%) to the
fine aggregate. During cement production a large amount of CO2
is emitted which affects the environment majorly; hence cement
is partially replaced with metakaolin in order to reduce CO2 emis-
sion and also to improve the strength of concrete. The properties of
each material in this study are investigated to find out the better
result and the values obtained in testing hardened concrete are
compared with controlled specimens.
Various studies showed that the employment of plastic waste in
concrete as a partial replacement of fine aggregate gives better
results. Awham Mohammed Hameed and Bilal Abdul-Fatah Ahmed
explained that the mechanical properties of concrete at 1% PET
content shows better result. The concrete density decreases with
E-mail addresses: vmpunithacivil@gmail.com (V. Punitha), sakthistructrichy@g-
mail.com (N. Sakthieswaran), oganeshbabu@gmail.com (O. Ganesh Babu)
that the compressive strength of concrete decreases when plastic
PET aggregate is incorporated to it [2]. Azad A. Mohammed, Ilham
I. Mohammed and Shuaaib A. Mohammed explained that the fine
or coarse aggregate is replaced upto 30% of PVC aggregate in order
to get desired properties [3]. Alireza Mohammadinia et al., in their
study explained the employment of RPW and RCG in concrete in
which coarse aggregate is replaced up to 20% by volume for RPW
and up to 30% by volume for RCG which is used in the construction
of footpath [4]. Thorneycroft.J, et al., explained that by replacing
10% sand with volume of recycled plastic is a feasible solution to
save up to 820 million tons of sand every year [5]. Ankur Bhogayata
C and Narendra K. Arora in their study explained that the addition
of Metalized plastic waste (MPW) into the controlled concrete can
reduced the environmental hazards and also enhanced the
mechanical and durability property of concrete [6]. Rakesh Muduli
and Bibhuti Bhusan Mukharjee investigates about the incorpora-
tion of metakaolin with varying percentages of recycled coarse
aggregates (RCA) in concrete to improve its properties. The results
shows that the concrete mix incorporating 100% RCA and 15%
metakaolin having similar properties in comparison with con-
trolled concrete [7]. Hence, in this study in order to increase the
mechanical and durability properties of concrete the fine aggregate
is replaced partially with HDPE plastic waste and cement by
metakaolin.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.288
2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering:
Materials Science.

Please cite this article as: V. Punitha, N. Sakthieswaran and O. Ganesh Babu, Experimental investigation of concrete incorporating HDPE plastic waste and
metakaolin, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.288
2 V. Punitha et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

2. Material specifications Table 4

Physical Properties of HDPE Plastic.

The materials used in the concrete should satisfy IS 10262-2009 S. NO Specification Values
[8] code which are described as follows: 1 Density (g/cm ) 3
0.93
2 Specific gravity 0.87
3 Colour Blue
2.1. Cement

Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) with 53 grade is used in accor-

In this study, conplast 430 is used conforming to IS 9103-1999
dance with IS 12269-1987 [9] Table 1.
[11].

2.2. Aggregate:
Fine aggregate: Manufactured sand (M.Sand) of Zone III is cho-
sen as fine aggregate conforming to IS 383-1970[10].
Coarse aggregate: The angular aggregate which are crushed
with a size 20 mm in accordance with IS 383-1970 is used in this
study Table 2.
2.3. Metakaolin
Metakaolin is a mineral admixture in which clay is calcined at a
temperature of about 650–800 °C is partially replaced with cement
in this study Table 3.
2.4. HDPE plastic
The waste HDPE plastics are collected and pulverized to a fine
powder which is sieved through IS sieve and is partially replaced
as fine aggregate Table 4.
2.5. Super plasticizer
Super plasticizers (SP) are chemical admixtures employed to
increase the workability of concrete with reduced water content.
3. Investigations made
3.1. Mix proportion
The conventional concrete mix consisting of cement, fine aggre-
gate and coarse aggregate in the ratio of 1:1.98:3.79 with water -
cement ratio of 0.45 is used conforming to IS 456-2000 [12]. The
following table shows the mix proportion of controlled concrete
specimen (Table 5).
The concrete in which HDPE plastic is partially replaced (5%,
10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%) by weight of fine aggregate and 10%
metakaolin is partially replaced by weight of cement and the
amount of coarse aggregate is same as that of conventional
concrete.
The mix proportion of concrete with HDPE plastic powder and
Metakaolin are tabulated as follows (Table 6).
3.2. Preparation of specimens:
The specimens were prepared with a size
150 mm  150 mm  150 mm for compressive strength test,
100 mm  100 mm  500 mm for flexural strength test and
150 mm (diameter)  300 mm (height) for split tensile strength
test, then it is cured for about 7 days and 28 days to obtain desired
strength in accordance with IS 516–1959 [13].

Table 1 4. Results and discussions

Physical properties of cement.

S. No Description Observations 4.1. Slump cone test

1 Specific gravity 3.15
2 Fineness of cement 3% From Fig. 1, the slump value of concrete with various percent-
3 Consistency of cement 30% ages of HDPE plastic powder and 10% metakaolin decreases gradu-
4 Initial setting time 125 min
ally. The slump value of concrete is 15.63%, 28.13%, 34.38%, 43.75%,
5 Final setting time 420 min
6 28 day compressive strength 55.23 Mpa 56.25%, 62.5% decreases at K10P5, K10P10, K10P15, K10P20,
K10P25 and K10P30 respectively compared to conventional
concrete.

Table 2 4.2. Compressive strength

Physical properties of aggregates.

S. NO Description FA CA From Fig. 2, the compressive strength of concrete with various

1 Fineness modulus 2.45 2.94 percentages of HDPE plastic powder and 10% metakaolin increases
2 Specific gravity 2.65 2.71 and then decreases gradually. The compressive strength for 7 days
3 Water absorption 1% 0.38% is 4.15% increases at K10P15 mix and 27.38%, 16%, 22.23%, 37.26% ,
4 Bulk density (compacted), kg/m3 1560 1580
47.78% decreases at K10P5, K10P10, K10P20, K10P25 and K10P30
5 Bulk density (saturated), kg/m3 1420 1460
mixes respectively compared to conventional concrete. The com-
pressive strength for 28 days is 6.13% increases at K10P15 mix
and 23.96%, 10.67%, 20.15%, 27.87% , 32.30% decreases at K10P5,
Table 3 K10P10, K10P20, K10P25 and K10P30 mixes respectively com-
Physical properties of Metakaolin. pared to conventional concrete.
S. No Test Particulars Results
1 Specific gravity 2.52 4.3. Split tensile strength
2 Fineness modulus 2.84
3 Colour White From Fig. 3, with 10% of metakaolin and various percentages of
4 Physical form Powder
HDPE plastic powder, the split tensile strength for 7 days is 1.61%,

Please cite this article as: V. Punitha, N. Sakthieswaran and O. Ganesh Babu, Experimental investigation of concrete incorporating HDPE plastic waste and
metakaolin, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.288
 V. Punitha et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx 3

Table 5
Mix proportion of conventional concrete.

Grade Designation Cement (kg/m3) FA (kg/m3) CA (kg/m3) W/C ratio

M30 350 693 1296 0.45

Table 6
Mix proportion of concrete with HDPE plastic powder and Metakaolin.

Mix Binder Fine aggregate Coarse aggregate (kg/m3) Water (ml) Chemical admixture (ml)
Cement (kg/m3) Metakaolin (kg/m3) M.Sand (kg/m3) HPDE Plastic (kg/m3)
K10P5 346.5 38.5 643.15 33.85 1296 140 7.7
K10P10 346.5 38.5 609.3 67.7 1296 140 7.7
K10P15 346.5 38.5 575.45 101.55 1296 140 7.7
K10P20 346.5 38.5 541.6 135.4 1296 140 7.7
K10P25 346.5 38.5 507.75 169.25 1296 140 7.7
K10P30 346.5 38.5 473.9 203.1 1296 140 7.7

Fig. 1. Slump value of concrete.

Fig. 3. Split tensile strength of concrete.

30.32%, 33.53% and 36.44% decreases at K10P5, K10P10, K10P15,

K10P20, K10P25 and K10P30 mixes respectively compared to con-
ventional concrete.

4.4. Flexural strength

From Fig. 4, the flexural strength of concrete with various per-

centages of HDPE plastic powder and 10% metakaolin decreases
gradually. The flexural strength for 7 days are 19.94%, 24.7%,
26.49%, 33.33%, 38.69%, and 45.54% decreases at K10P5, K10P10,
K10P15, K10P20, K10P25 and K10P30 mixes respectively while
the flexural strength for 28 days is 18.54%, 25.59%, 31.59%,
34.99% , 38.38% and 44.13% decreases at K10P5, K10P10, K10P15,
K10P20, K10P25 and K10P30 mixes respectively in comparison
with conventional concrete.

4.5. Water absorption test

Fig. 2. Compressive strength of concrete.
26.77%, 22.9%, 30%, 35.81% and 40% decreases at K10P5, K10P10,
K10P15, K10P20, K10P25 and K10P30 mixes respectively. While
the split tensile strength for 28 days is 14.58%, 25.36%, 23.32%,
From Fig. 5, the water absorption test for concrete with various
percentages of HDPE plastic powder and 10% metakaolin decreases
gradually. The water absorption for 7 days is 7.63%, 5.02%, 3.83%,
3.60%, 2.76%, 2.17%, 1.43% at K0P0, K10P5, K10P10, K10P15,
K10P20, K10P25 and K10P30 mixes respectively. The water
absorption for 28 days is 9.66%, 7.47%, 5.01%, 4.80%, 3.60%, 2.92%,

Please cite this article as: V. Punitha, N. Sakthieswaran and O. Ganesh Babu, Experimental investigation of concrete incorporating HDPE plastic waste and
metakaolin, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.288
4 V. Punitha et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 4. Flexural strength of concrete.
Fig. 5. Water absorption test for concrete.
1.87% at K0P0, K10P5, K10P10, K10P15, K10P20, K10P25 and
K10P30 mixes respectively
5. Conclusion
This study reports the mechanical properties of concrete con-
taining HDPE plastic powder and Metakaolin. Mixes of M30 grade
were prepared by partially replacing 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and
30% of plastic powder by weight of fine aggregate and 10% of Meta-
Please cite this article as: V. Punitha, N. Sakthieswaran and O. Ganesh Babu, Experimental investigation of concrete incorporating HDPE plastic waste and
metakaolin, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.06.288
kaolin by weight of cement. The following conclusions are listed
based on the experimental investigations made:
(1). The compressive strength of concrete containing 10% meta-
kaolin and 15% HDPE plastic powder attains nearly 106% compared
to controlled concrete.
(2). The flexural strength of concrete attains 80% replacement
with 5% of HDPE plastic and 10% of metakaolin.
(3). The split tensile strength of concrete attains 90% replace-
ment with 5% of HDPE plastic and 10% of metakaolin.
(4). The mechanical properties of concrete incorporating 5%
plastic content and 10% metakaolin is within the acceptable limit.
(5). The workability and water absorption value of concrete is
decreased with increasing the plastic content.
(6). Hence it is concluded that up to 70% replacement is
achieved with 5% HDPE plastic and 10% metakaolin compared to
control mix.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
V. Punitha: Conceptualization, Methodology, Resources, Writ-
ing - original draft. N. Sakthieswaran: Investigation, Validation,
Supervision, Visualization. O. Ganesh Babu: Writing - review &
editing, Project administration, Formal analysis.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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