TITLE:
Environmental and Cost Advantages of Using Polyethylene Terephthalate Fibre Reinforced Concrete with Fly Ash as a Partial Cement Replacement
AUTHORS:
Rebecca Belay Kassa, Christopher Kanali, Nathaniel Ambassah
KEYWORDS:
Concrete, PET, Fly Ash, Cost, Environment, Pollution, Landfill
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Civil Engineering,
Vol.9 No.4,
October
29,
2019
ABSTRACT: Solid waste disposal is an alarming problem in most African countries.
Plastic wastes like Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles and powdered
wastes like fly ash are severely persisting environmental hazards. They are
brutally polluting the water bodies, landfills, as well as the atmosphere. The
construction industry has been working towards improving concrete quality by developing
alternative methods like partial cement replacement with different pozzolanic
elements as well as using waste fibrous materials. Fly ash and PET bottle fibres are two common waste materials that can
be used. This article is a part of a research that studied the combined effects
of the addition of PET bottle fibres and fly ash (as a partial cement replacement) on
the structural performance of concrete. From a purely engineering point of view, the research results indicate that the
utilization and incorporation of PET and fly ash wastes in the construction
industry are a viable solution to make concrete quality better. This article presents, beyond the engineering properties and
experimental works, the economic and environmental advantages of the addition
of these waste materials to the conventional concrete mixture. The addition of
PET bottle fibres and fly ash resulted in
positive cost implications providing a production cost reduction of 19% over
the conventional concrete mixture. The removal of these materials from the
environment also showed reduction of the
emission of toxic elements to landfills and
water bodies that put human, animal and
plant lives in
danger.