PAVING BLOCK USING HDPE PLASTIC

Abstract

Plastic wastes are increasing at an alarming rate and adversely affecting environment as they are not easily degraded. This paper researches to replace cement with plastic waste in paver block and to reduce the cost of paver block as well as utilizing waste HDPE plastic in manufacturing of paver blocks as compared to that of convention concrete paver blocks. The project aims in reducing plastic waste in a useful way and reduce pollution from environment also making paver block economical. According to a study in Science Magazine, Malaysia is the 8th worst country worldwide for plastic waste. It is estimated that, Malaysia produced almost 1 million tonnes of mismanaged plastic waste in 2010 of which 0.14 to 0.37 million tonnes may have been washed to the oceans. Objective of this project is to produce paver block using HDPE plastic. Hence, investigate the compression strength, water absorption and melting point of plastic paver block and compare it with conventional block available in the market. Four type of paver block with size 225mm × 115mm × 60mm were prepared forthe experiment. In this project we have used plastic waste and sand with different proportion. Four samples were prepared (50:50), (60:40) and placed in mould. Afterwards, the respective samples were tested for compressive strength. Compressive strength test showed the values of 13.2N/mm2 (60:40) ( coarse sand : plastic), 9.1 N/mm2 (50:50) ( coarse sand : plastic), 7.9 N/mm2 (60:40) ( fine sand : plastic ) and 11.6 N/mm2 (50:50) ( Fine sand : plastic ). Water absorption testshowed an average value of 1.8 % which is lower compared to the cement concrete made pavers. The research concluded that it can be used in non-traffic and light traffic roads. Gardens, pedestrian path will be cheaply constructed, and with the increased durability, accessibility will be improved and well utilization of resources. For the recommendations, the strength of the paving block can be increased by adding more materials in the mixture such as Kaolin which can result in higher compression strength.