Mechanical behavior of a gypsum material with additions of recycled waste from absorbent hygienic products

This research aims to determine the feasibility of incorporating waste from Absorbent Hygienic Products (AHP) in gypsum-based construction materials, in order to reduce the consumption of raw materials and promote waste recycling. For this purpose, and after a detailed bibliographic and documentary search, an experimental plan was designed to compare procedures, additions and tests carried out. In a first phase, the recycled fibers, the water/ gypsum ratio as well as the percentage of added waste was analyzed; In a second phase, the procedure and tools for making the test specimens were studied; and finally, physical and mechanical laboratory tests were carried out. The results of the tests show that the mixture with cellulose improves the mechanical behavior of the compounds and all the specimens containing waste increased the superficial hardness. In this sense, it can be concluded that the substitution of part of the gypsum by AHP wastes is viable, guaranteeing the mechanical resistance values required by the current standard UNE-EN 13279-2.

Automated summary

This research investigates the possibility of using waste from Absorbent Hygienic Products (AHP) in gypsum-based construction materials to reduce raw material consumption and promote waste recycling. Through experiments and tests, it was found that adding recycled fibers and AHP waste can improve the mechanical behavior and surface hardness of the compounds. It can be concluded that substituting part of the gypsum with AHP waste is a viable option to meet the required mechanical resistance values according to the current standard UNE-EN 13279-2.