Use of different forms of waste plastic in concrete - a review

The consumption of various forms of plastics is a challenging environment protection issue. All forms of consumed plastic become waste and require large areas of land for storage because several tons of waste plastics cannot be fully recycled at once. The low biodegradability of plastic and the presence in large quantities of waste plastic negatively impact the environment. Previously, various studies were performed to identify safe and environmentally friendly methods for disposing of plastics. Recently, various forms of plastics have been incorporated in concrete to prevent the direct contact of plastics with the environment because concrete has a longer service life. However, this method is not a dominant method for disposing of waste plastic. This paper presents an overview of some published research regarding the use of waste plastic in concrete. The effects of waste plastic addition on the fresh, mechanical and thermal properties of concrete are also presented in this paper. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.