Recyclable solid waste

Recyclable solid waste materials for

Civil Engineering applications
• Plastic waste and solid waste
• Fly Ash and Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS)
• Recycled aggregates
• Silica fume
• Rubber Waste
• E-waste
Solid wastes and their recycling and utilization
potentials for construction materials
 Plastic waste in road material

• The rapid Urbanization and Industrialization in India has resulted in

large deposition of Plastic waste. Plastic waste, consisting of carry
bags, cups etc. can be used as a coating over aggregate and this
coated stone can be used for road construction as cement and asphalt
concrete. This is a eco-friendly process. By using plastic waste as
modifier, the quantity of cement and sand by their weight can be
reduced, thereby decreasing the overall cost of construction.
 Advantages of Plastic Road
• Reduce need of Bitumen by around 10%.
• For 1Km × 3.75 m. road, 1 ton of Plastic(10 lakhs carry bags) is used and
1 ton of bitumen is saved.
• Strength & Performance of road increased by 100%.
• No effect of radiation like UV.
• Better resistance to water & water stagnation.
 Advantages of Plastic Road
• No stripping & no potholes.
• No leaching of plastic.
• Reduce cost to around Rs.8000/m of single lane road.
• Maintenance cost is almost nil.
• Good skid resistance & good texture of road.
• Generate job for rag pickers.
• Disposal of plastic waste will no longer be a problem.
 Conclusions
• Plastic will increase the melting point of bitumen.
• Use of this innovative technology not only strengthened the road construction
but also increased road life.
• Help to improve environment.
• Plastic road will be a “boon” for India’s hot and humid climate where durable and
ecofriendly roads which will relive the earth from all type of plastic waste.
Especially in India, where temperatures frequently cross 50°C and torrential rains
create havoc, leaving most of the roads with big potholes, plastic roads will be a
ecofriendly gift.
• Bitumen can be replaced by waste plastic which is required for road construction
and its use can be substantially reduced to 10%.
• And obviously the savings in construction of is huge.
• Applying this eco-concept will help to improve the world.
The technology for this was developed by the ‘Plastic Man’ of India, Prof
Rajagopalan Vasudevan, Professor of Chemistry at Thiagarajar College of
Engineering, Madurai.
He is Awarded Padma Shri in 2018 for his groundbreaking research.
 Fly ash
• Fly Ash is a mineral by-product of coal combustion in thermal power plants. It is
generally finer than cement and consists of mostly of spherical glassy
compounds of complex composition. It is a waste material and dumped on the
land adjoining thermal power plants and townships.
• Although fly ash is commonly used as a mineral admixture in Portland cement
for rigid pavements, it has had a very limited use in flexible pavement. Although
fly ash inclusion in concrete results in slower strength development initially, the
ultimate strength is higher than that of the plain concrete.
• Aspects which add to the advantages in use of fly ash in the construction of
roads like durability, easy availability, environmental protection, economy,
performance, imperviousness, better resistance to fatigue and strength of
concrete.
 Fly ash is a fine powder produced as a product from
industrial plants using pulverized coal or lignite as
fuel.
 It is the most widely used pozzolan siliceous or
alumino-siliceous in nature in a finely divided form.
 They are spherical shaped “balls’’ finer than cement
particles.
Recycled Fly Ash Use
 Fly ash in concrete
Fly ash could be an expensive replacement for Portland cement in concrete
and using it, improves strength, segregation and ease of pumping concrete.

The rate of substitution typically specified is a minimum of 1 to 1 ½ kg of fly

ash to 1 kg of cement.

Fly Ash particles provide a greater workability of the powder portion of the
concrete mixture which results in greater workability of the concrete and a
lowering of water requirement for the same concrete consistency.
ASTM C618 Defines two classes of fly ash:
Class C Class F
Fly ash bricks are durable, have low water absorption, less
consumption of mortar, and are economical/eco-friendly.
Fly ash bricks can have up to three times the strength of
conventional bricks
Fly ash bricks can utilize up to 50% Class C fly ash.
Fly ash brick production can reduce the embodied energy of
masonry construction by up to 90%.
 Soil Stabilization

Soil stabilization is the permanent physical and chemical alteration

of soils to enhance their properties.
Using fly ash as a soil stabilization can increase shear strength,
control the shrink-swell properties of the soil, and improve the load
bearing capacity.
Benefits include higher resistance (R) values, reduction in
plasticity, lower permeability, and elimination of excavation.
Class C fly ash is used in soil stabilization
 Environmental Impacts
Pros
Reduces green house gas emission as a cement replacement material
• For every one ton of cement produced about 6.5 million BTUs of energy is consumed. Replacing that
1 ton of cement with fly ash would save enough electricity to power the average American home for
almost a month.
• For every one ton of cement produced about one ton of carbon dioxide is released.
Reduces volume of landfill space used for disposal of fly ash
Measured by tonnage, the most-recycled products
and materials in 2018 were corrugated boxes (32.1
million tons), mixed nondurable paper products (8.8
million tons), newspapers/mechanical papers (3.3
million tons), lead-acid batteries (2.9 million tons),
major appliances (3.1 million tons), wood packaging
(3.1 million tons), glass containers (3 million tons),
tires (2.6 million tons), mixed paper containers and
packaging (1.8 million tons) and selected consumer
electronics (1 million tons). Collectively, these
products accounted for 90 percent of total MSW
recycling in 2018.