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Assessing the recycling potential of glass fibre

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DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2008.12.004

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Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 821829

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Assessing the recycling potential of glass bre reinforced plastic waste in concrete
and cement composites
P. Asokan a, M. Osmani a, *, A.D.F. Price a
a
Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: At present glass bre reinforced plastic (GRP) waste recycling worldwide is very limited due to its intrinsic
Received 28 July 2008 thermoset properties, lack of characterisation data and non availability of viable recycling and recovery
Received in revised form routes. In the present study, efforts were made to recycle GRP waste powder and bre in concrete and
7 December 2008
cement composites and assess its quality to comply with the British standards for use in construction
Accepted 11 December 2008
applications. Results revealed that the mean compressive strength of concrete composites using 5%50%
Available online 20 January 2009
GRP waste powder under water curing varied from 37 N/mm2 to 19 N/mm2. Increase in the concentration
of GRP waste decreased the compressive strength. However, increase in curing duration (14180 days)
Keywords:
Glass bre reinforced plastic waste resulted in improving the compressive strength of concrete with 5% GRP application to 45.75 N/mm2.
Concrete and cement composite Moreover, the density of concrete with 50% GRP waste was reduced by about 12% as compared to the
Compressive strength control sample. The bending strength in terms of modules of rupture (MOR) of 12 mm thickness cement
Recycling potentials composites developed using 5% GRP waste bre attained 16.5 N/mm2. The ndings of this work pave the
Construction products way for further GRP waste recycling in precast construction products for use in various applications.
2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction disposed off by the construction, automobiles, locomotives and

Glass bre reinforced plastic (GRP) is a well known composite
material which has ample market value due to its superior char-
acteristics in terms of weight and durability. Fibre reinforced
concrete (FRC) has many applications e.g. tunnel construction, wall
cladding, structural ceilings, where bres are being used as rein-
forcing material and is more pronounced in self-compacting
concrete, lightweight concrete and expanded polystyrene concrete
[1,2]. Earlier work has shown that polymer concrete is stronger
than cement based concrete [3]; however, polymer based concrete
tends to be more expensive and is used only in restricted applica-
tions such as box culverts, hazardous waste storage and disposal
containers, trenches, oor drains, pavements and bridges. In poly-
mer concrete, mostly epoxy, methyl methacrylate and unsaturated
polyester are being used as binders.
During GRP products manufacturing, polyester resin is rein-
forced with glass bre to obtain the required durability in terms of
stiffness, strength and water absorption. The GRP manufacturing
process produces considerable quantities of unnished products as
waste materials. Additionally, GRP waste materials have been often
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 44 1509 228155 (direct), 44 1509 222637
(secretary), 44 1509 222884 (department); fax: 44 1509 223981.
E-mail address: m.osmani@lboro.ac.uk (M. Osmani).
aerospace industries after their utility/service life is over [46]. GRP
waste is basically a combination of glass bre and polymer and
disposal of such solid waste to landll becomes a major environ-
mental hazard.
About 55,000 tonnes of GRP waste are currently produced each
year in the United Kingdom and the quantity is expected to increase
by 10% annually [7]. In the European Union as well as in most parts
of the world, the manufacturing of thermoplastic polymer
composites is higher than the thermoset composites. The ther-
moset polymer composites share was about 18.5% (i.e. 7,350,000
tonnes) in Western Europe during 2003 [5]. Landll and incinera-
tion are the most commonly adopted methods for the disposal of
thermoset polymer composites including GRP composites waste
[4,6]. In the United Kingdom, about 90% of the GRP waste is being
sent for landll. Growing technological innovations, ample market
value and demand for GRP composites all over the world have
triggered interest in optimising GRP waste recovery; however, few
solutions for recycling into value added construction products are
being explored. Currently, Hambleside Danelaw Rooights and
Cladding Limited, Inverness, Scotland is the only company in the UK
that has facilities for grinding GRP waste [2].
It was reported that the use of GRP waste ground bre, as
replacement for ne aggregate in foamed concrete, increased
strength with reduced weight [8]. Moreover, the study revealed
that re resistant properties of GRP lled foamed concrete were

0959-6526/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2008.12.004
 Author's personal copy

822 P. Asokan et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 821829

suitable for structural and semi-structural applications in light-

weight partitions, wall and oor panels. A study on GRP waste
recycling showed that glass bres recovered from polymeric
chemicals could replace up to 20% of the virgin glass bres used in
dough moulding compound [4]. Attempts were made to use ground
GRP bres as reinforcement in thermoplastics, but due to the poor
abrasive nature, these could not contribute to improve the prop-
erties of thermoplastic materials [9]. Virgin glass bre has been
used in making thin sheets of at, corrugated or complex shaped
panels as precast concrete products for construction [10], although
studies on GRP waste recycling revealed that ground glass bres
removed from granules were used with wood our in high density
polyethylene (HDPE) to increase tensile and exural modulus [11].
However, the polymeric compound and glass bre in GRP waste
still need to nd recovery alternatives. The chemical process for
recycling glass bre reinforced polyester waste through pyrolysis at
450  C resulted in the production of CO, CO2, H2, CH4, hydrocarbon
gases along with pyrolytic oil with high caloric value for use as
fuels [4]. The incineration process may be one of the solutions for
bre reinforced plastic waste disposal; however, this contributes to Fig. 2. GRP waste ground bre.
the emissions of toxic substances to the atmosphere as well as
involves a higher operating cost [12].
Earlier attempts were made to recycle concrete and masonry ground samples were acquired from Hambleside Danelaw Roof-
materials along with unsaturated polyester resins and polyethylene lights and Cladding Limited, Scotland, United Kingdom: GRP waste
terephthalate (PET) plastic waste and reported that resin addition powdered materials with a little quantity of varying length of glass
increased the strength of polymer concrete [3]. Moreover, the acid bre (Fig. 1); and GRP waste bre with a length of about 20 mm
and alkali elements were found not to affect the polymer concrete. (Fig. 2). The GRP waste powder samples were sieved using a 2 mm
Efforts were also made to characterise the properties of recycled sieve size and segregated into bre and powder.
glass bre reinforced polymide, but the suitability and their recy- In order to assess the potential of GRP waste recycling in precast
cling potentials are not yet well established [13,14]. The work concrete, two sets of experimental programmes were conducted. In
reported so far is very limited and did not show viable applications the rst experiment, attempts were made to recycle GRP waste
for GRP waste recycling in concrete. Hence, in the present study, powder in precast concrete composites (i.e. concrete paving blocks)
efforts were made to recycle ground GRP waste powder as an and the second experiment was on recycling GRP waste bre in
admixture and substitute to ne aggregate in concrete composites developing cement composites (i.e. architectural cladding panels).
and GRP waste bre as structural reinforcement materials in During the rst stage of the research programme, detailed char-
architectural cladding panels. acterisation of the GRP waste samples in terms of physical, chem-
ical, thermal and morphological properties was studied and the
results are reported and discussed below.
2. Methodologies

Laboratory experiments were conducted at the concrete labo-
ratory, Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Lough-
borough University, United Kingdom. Two types of GRP waste
2.1. Development of concrete composites
Detailed experiments were conducted on the use of GRP waste
in concrete composites. Mix design was in accordance with the
Building Research Establishment (BRE) 1988 mix design [15], and
concrete specimens were prepared as per BS EN 12390-2:2000 [16]
using different proportions of cement, aggregate as shown in
Table 1. Processed GRP waste powder was used as a partial
substitute for ne aggregates at the concentration of 5%, 15%, 30%
and 50% (w/w). Control concrete specimens were also cast to
compare the properties over the GRP waste admixed concrete.
Normal ne aggregate (NFA) was used as per BS 882 [17]. Normal
coarse aggregate (NCA) was used as per BS 882 where the aggregate
size was 520 mm [18]. Fig. 3 (a, b) shows GRP waste mixing with

Table 1
Mix proportion of concrete with the incorporation of GRP waste powder.

Experimental Fine aggregate NCA Cement w/c ratio

trials (kg/m3) (kg/m3)
NFA GRP powder

(kg/m3) (kg/m3) (%)

1 750 0 0 1250 430 0.50
2 712 38 5 1250 430 0.55
3 637 113 15 1250 430 0.57
4 525 225 30 1250 430 0.68
5 337 337 50 1250 430 0.71
Fig. 1. GRP waste ground sample: mixture of powder and bre.
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P. Asokan et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 821829 823

Fig. 3. (a, b) Concrete mix with GRP waste powder: (a) before mixing, (b) after mixing.

cement and aggregates for making concrete specimens. In all
experiments, ordinary Portland cement that complied with BS
12:1996 was used in making concrete specimens.
In each experiment, concrete cubes specimens of size
100  100  100 mm were cast into moulds and compacted under
vibrating conditions at laboratory room temperature. After 24 h of
casting, GRP waste concrete specimens were removed from the
mould and were cured separately under two different conditions:
in water at 20  2  C and in oven at 50  2  C (Fig. 4a, b). About 90
concrete specimens were developed and triplicate specimens were
tested to check the reproducibility of results. After 14 days, 28 days
and 180 days of curing, the developed concrete specimens were
tested to assess their suitability for construction applications.
British standards were followed for testing concrete specimens
compressive strength [19] and density [20]. The results were
compared with the control concrete where no GRP waste was
added. The compressive strength (fc) was calculated as N/mm2.
Compressive strength test was performed using the Denison 7230
compression testing machine. During compression testing, a force
was applied uniaxially at a constant loading rate of 0.2 N/mm2 to
the specimen until the cube failed under compressive force and the
resulting force was expressed in terms of compressive stress as N/
mm2. In each experiment, triplicate samples were tested to conrm
their reproducibility of test results and the mean value was calcu-
lated. The compressive strength is given by the equation:
f prepared. Panel preparation and testing were done in accordance
fc
Aac
where fc the compressive strength (newtons per square
millimetre); f the maximum load at failure, in newtons; and Aac
the cross-sectional area of the specimen.
The density of concrete specimens was calculated as per BS EN
12390-7:2000. Concrete specimens were cured in water for
a period of 72 h at 20  2  C. Then the water cured specimens were
dried in a ventilated oven at (105  5)  C to get a uniform weight
and then kept in desiccators and weighed. The density was calcu-
lated from the total mass of water cured and oven dried specimen
as follows:
ma mst mw mst 
V
rw
V is the volume of the specimen (cubic metres); ma is the mass of
the specimen in air (kilograms); mst is the apparent mass of the
immersed stirrup (kilograms); mw is the apparent mass of the
immersed specimen (kilograms); rw is the density of water, at
20  C, taken as 998 kg/m3.
2.2. Development of cement composites
For the second set of experiments, attempts were made to
explore the potential of using GRP waste bre in cement composites
(precast architectural cladding panels). Two different panel sizes:
300 mm  300 mm  8 mm and 300 mm  300 mm  12 mm were
with the British standard on bre-cement at sheets product

Fig. 4. (a, b) Curing concrete specimens developed using GRP waste powder: (a) water curing, (b) oven curing.
 Author's personal copy
824 P. Asokan et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 821829
Fig. 5. (a, b) Mix proportionate (GRP waste bre, ne aggregate and cement) in making the cement composite: (a) before mixing, (b) mixing process.
specication and test method [21]. Several methods are available
for making bre-cement composite sheets [10]. In this process, 5%
GRP waste bre (w/w of cement content) was premixed with
mortar (1:1.6 cement to sand ratio) along with 2% superplasticiser
(polycarboxylate). The aggregates and cement were mixed thor-
oughly with GRP waste bre using water and cast in wooden
moulds without vibration. The water cement ratio was 0.33 and 0.3
with 5% GRP waste bre and without GRP waste bre respectively.
The cast panels were removed from the moulds and curing was
done in water at 20  2  C. After 28 days of curing, specimens were
tested to assess their suitability for use as architectural cladding
panels. Fig. 5 (a, b) shows the mix proportions (GRP waste bre, ne
aggregate and cement) in making cement composites.
To assess the physical and mechanical characteristics (bending
strength), panels were cut into specimens of dimension
95 mm  300 mm  12 mm and 95 mm  300 mm  8 mm using
a diamond cutter and the bending strength was tested using
a universal testing machine, Instron 5500R (100 KN load capacity)
at the speed of 1 mm/min. The bending strength and density of the
panel products were tested to comply with the British standard
[21]. The calculation used in determining the bending strength as
modules of rupture (MOR) is as follows:
3Fls
Modules of rupture MOR
2be2
where F breaking load (newtons); ls span between the axes of
support (mm); b width of the test specimen (mm); and e
thickness of the test specimen (mm).
3. Results and discussion
The results on the use of GRP waste powder in precast concrete
products are summarised in this section. The primary physico-
chemical properties showed that the GRP waste powder samples
comprised oxides of silica, alumina and calcium which are essen-
tially required to improve the properties of concrete products. Table
2 shows the physico-chemical properties of Portland cement and
GRP waste powder. When compared to the properties of cement,
the presence of silica in GRP waste powder was higher about 33%
and the oxides of alumina were higher by about 22%. The most
important parameter is oxides of calcium which was lower in GRP
waste powder as compared to Portland cement and the specic
surface area of GRP waste was higher by about 34% over cement.
The ground GRP waste sample comprised about 95% powder and
about 5% bre (w/w). The GRP waste powder sample had a wide
particle size ranging from 0.02 micrometre to 600 micrometre.
However, glass bres in the powder had a varying length from 0.02
micrometre to 20 mm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies
showed that the GRP waste powder particles were different in size
and irregular in shape. The chemical characterisation of the GRP
powder determined by the Fourier transform infrared spectrometer
(FTIR) technique showed that it was a thermoset polyester resin.
The glass transition temperature (Tg) of GRP waste powder was
about 135.4  C [22].
3.1. Effect of GRP waste powder on compressive strength of concrete
composites
The compressive strength of precast concrete composites
(cubes) developed using different proportionates of GRP waste
powder under water curing and oven curing were tested at 14 days,
28 days and 180 days and the results are reported and discussed
below. Fig. 6 (a, b) shows the testing compressive strength of
concrete specimen. The results of 14 days, 28 days and 180 days
compressive strength of concrete are shown in Table 3.
3.1.1. Effect of GRP waste powder on 14 days compressive strength
of concrete composites
The 14 days compressive strength of concrete made with 5% GRP
waste powder under water curing was 32 N/mm2 with a standard
deviation of 0.86, and was 25% lower than that of the control
specimens where no GRP waste was applied. However, 5% GRP
waste substitution under oven curing resulted in a 13% decrease in
the compressive strength of concrete as compared to the control
specimens. Nevertheless, the compressive strength was higher by
about 9% with oven curing as compared to water curing. This was
mainly due to the effect of temperature on the polymeric content
present in the GRP waste powder (Table 3). This is further sup-
ported by an earlier study, where the addition of polymeric mate-
rials with cement, during hydration, enabled polymer lm
formation to occur which resulted in a co-matrix under which the
polymer was intermingled with cement hydrate under heating
condition [5]. In this study, GRP waste powder was a combination
of polymer and glass bre, and due to the presence of polymeric
compounds, the compressive strength of oven cured specimens
Table 2
Physico-chemical properties of Portland cement and glass bre reinforced plastic
(GRP) waste ground sample.
Sl. no. Parameters Characteristics
Portland cement GRP waste
ground sample
1 SiO2 (%) 20.5 29.94
2 Al2O3 (%) 5.65 7.31
3 CaO (%) 64.5 17.79
4 Specic surface area (m2/g) 0.343 0.527
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P. Asokan et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 821829
Fig. 6. (a, b) Testing compressive strength of concrete specimens: (a) specimens before testing (b) after testing.
might have shown higher strength over water cured specimens.
The increase in the compressive strength of concrete with GRP
waste application under oven curing may be due to the hydration
process in which the polymeric compound in GRP waste and
cement might have formed a polymeric lm under oven curing at
above 40  C. Furthermore, Tabor [23] reported that the presence of
polymer particles in the dispersion is restricted to the capillary
force at the interface of the aggregate and the bulk polymer-cement
phase. In the bulk liquid phase, hydrates are produced which form
combined inorganic and organic products. The fraction of the
polymer-cement products formed depends on the ratio of polymer
and cement. The polymer products included in these hydration
products do not contribute to strength development. This has been
further supported with the results of earlier researchers that no
inuence of polymer modication on the strength is noticed in
standard cured and water cured specimens as long as no dry curing
is applied [5].
3.1.2. Effect of GRP waste powder on 28 days compressive strength
of concrete composites
Results revealed that the 28 days mean compressive strength of
concrete made with 5% GRP waste powder under water curing
attained 37 N/mm2 with a standard deviation of 0.77. The
compressive strength of oven cured concrete was higher than the
water cured concrete specimens. However, the compressive
strength of control concrete showed the optimum strength i.e.
47 N/mm2. The expected compressive strength of structural
concrete is 45 N/mm2. These results are in line with the work
reported earlier where the inuence of polymer latex on the
properties of cement concrete showed that there was a decrease in
the compressive strength of concrete of about 32% with the addi-
tion of 1020% polymeric materials; however, the exural and
tensile strength were found to be increased [24]. The present
investigation showed that there was a decrease of compressive
strength of concrete about 21% and 27% with 5% and 15% GRP waste
substitution respectively.
It was reported that polymer concrete is stronger than cement
based concrete. Therefore, polymer concrete is used in many
applications like box culvert, hazardous waste disposal site liner,
trench lines, oor drains, pavements and bridges [3]. The
Table 3
Effect of GRP waste powder on compressive strength of concrete (N/mm2) under different curing conditions.
Exp. no. % GRP powder Water cured specimen (N/mm2) (mean of triplicate specimens)
14 days 28 days
1 0% 43.61  0.37 47.67  0.69
2 5% 32.4  0.86 37.08  0.77
3 15% 27.95  0.25 34.09  0.90
4 30% 22.4  1.12 29.58  1.66
5 50% 14.13  0.59 19.05  0.88
825
mechanical properties of polymer concrete made of unsaturated
polyester resins from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
plastic waste showed a proportional correlation between an
increase in compressive strength and resin content. However, the
strength remains unchanged beyond 17% resin content. Moreover,
polymer concrete with a resin content of 9% did not affect the
durability characteristics, especially acid treatment [3].
3.1.3. Effect of GRP waste powder on 180 days compressive strength
of concrete composites
Interestingly, it was recorded that with GRP waste application,
there was an increase in the compressive strength of concrete with
longer curing periods. This was conrmed while comparing the
compressive strength of concrete tested under different curing
periods from 14 days to 180 days. The mean compressive strength
of concrete developed using 5% GRP waste powder under 180 days
water curing and oven curing was 45.74  0.76 N/mm2 and
47.17  0.64 N/mm2 respectively. Moreover, the compressive
strength of concrete with 15% GRP waste powder attained
44.38  0.42 N/mm2 and 46.24  0.57 N/mm2 under water curing
and oven curing respectively. Nevertheless, the compressive
strength of control concrete at 180 days (without GRP waste
powder) remained almost the same as that of 28 days compressive
strength under water curing but decreased under oven curing.
An earlier work showed that application of 9% polyester resin
(virgin materials) in recycling unsaturated polyester resins from
recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste and recy-
cled concrete aggregates with normal ne and coarse aggregates up
to 70% attained a compressive strength of 39 N/mm2 [3]. It was
expected that the glass bre content in GRP waste may contribute
to the increase in the reinforcement of concrete. Conversely, work
done by other researchers showed that no signicant results were
recorded on the compressive strength of concrete developed with
recycled glass and about 16% strength was reduced when 20% of
Portland cement was substituted [25]. This was due to the inherent
smooth surface, poor water absorption and contamination of raw
materials which resulted in inconsistency of the concrete mix, lack
of bonding between glass particles and the cement matrix leading
to a low compressive strength. Since, the polymerisation temper-
ature ranges from 40  C to 110  C [18], in the present study cement
Oven cured specimen (N/mm2) (mean of triplicate specimens)
180 days 14 days 28 days 180 days
46.23  0.57 32.31  0.6 34.37  0.56 39.20  0.67
45.74  0.69 36.08  0.15 37.9  1.32 47.17  0.64
44.38  0.42 29.21  0.48 35.11  0.37 46.24  0.57
30.82  0.64 25.76  0.39 30.62  1.03 34.39  0.23
21.31  0.03 17.02  0.1 21.61  0.72 24.24  0.38

826
2400
Water curing
2350 Oven curing
Density (kgm3)
2300
y = 0.007x2 + 0.0587x + 35.826
2250
2200
y = 0.0038x2 0.6829x + 44.375
2
R = 0.92
2150
2100
0 10 20 30
GRP waste powder ( )
Fig. 7. Effect of GRP waste powder on the density of concrete.
metric and GRP waste powder were blended together and were
cast as a solid monolithic structure and cured in 50  C in which it
was expected to form a polymeric lm contributing to the increase
in the compressive strength of concrete when compared to water
cured samples. Hence, the present study explored possible recy-
cling options to improve the quality of concrete with applications of
GRP waste powder. It was anticipated that the presence of ground
glass bre in GRP waste may contribute to an increase of concrete
reinforcement.
It was also reported that glass powder can be used as
a replacement for cement up to 10% to increase the compressive
strength of concrete [26]. The presence of polymer particles in the
dispersion is restricted to the capillary force at the interface of the
aggregate and the bulk polymer-cement phase and the polymer
products included in these hydration products do not contribute to
strength development [23]. This has been further supported with
the results of earlier researchers that no inuence of polymer
modication on the strength was noticed in standard cured and
water cured specimens as long as they are not dry cured [1,5]. This
suggests that the polymeric powder in the GRP waste might have
degraded from its virgin resin characteristics and hence, the pres-
ence of the polymeric compound in GRP waste powder might have
not contributed to enhance the compressive strength. However, the
present investigation revealed that the compressive strength of
concrete specimens developed using GRP waste powder was found
to be higher than that of the normal requirement for precast
concrete walling element (>5 MPa), lightweight concrete
Fig. 8. (a, b) Architectural cladding panels developed using GRP waste bre: (a) 12 mm thick and (b) 8 mm thick panels.
Author's personal copy
P. Asokan et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 821829
(>5 MPa), and concrete blocks (735 MPa) and conrmed the
potential applications of GRP waste as an additive or ller in
concrete.
3.2. Effect of GRP waste powder on density of concrete composites
R2 = 0.95
Fig. 7 shows the density of the concrete specimen developed
using different proportions of GRP waste powder. The density of
the concrete was studied under 28 days of curing in water and in
the oven. Results revealed from the present study that the mean
density of concrete developed with 5% and 15% GRP waste powder
under water curing was 2340 kg/m3 and 2270 kg/m3 respectively.
However, the mean density of concrete made with 30% and 50%
40 50 60
GRP waste was 2220 kg/m3 and 2120 kg/m3 respectively. Due to the
synergetic behaviour between polymer and cementations matrices,
the impact on the performance of materials largely affects the
weight ratio. This was signicantly inuenced the density of
construction materials [5]. It is apparent from the results of this
study that increased proportions of GRP waste in concrete
decreased the density by about 12% and the minimum density was
2120 kg/m3 with 50% GRP waste powder. However, little variation
was recorded with oven cured specimens as compared to the water
cured specimen. This is due to the fact that the density of the
polymer is lower than the cement and aggregates used in GRP
waste admixed concrete.
3.3. Effect of GRP waste bre on cement composites: precast
architectural cladding panels
As shown in Fig. 8 (a, b), two different prototypes
(300 mm  300 mm  8 mm and 300 mm  300 mm  12 mm) of
cement composites using 5% GRP waste bre were prepared and
developed in accordance with BS EN 12467:2004 [21]. Laboratory
tests were conducted to measure the resulting prototypes bending
strength and density, and assess their application suitability as
architectural cladding panels. The test specimens and testing
bending strength of cement composites are shown in Fig. 9 (a, b).
3.3.1. Effect of GRP waste bre on bending strength of architectural
cladding panels
The effect of GRP waste bre on the bending strength of cement
composites is shown in Table 4, where R1, R2 and R3 are replicate
test results. Results revealed that the mean bending strength in
terms of modules of rupture (MOR) of 12 mm thick panels
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P. Asokan et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 821829 827

Fig. 9. (a, b) Cement composite specimens for testing bending strength: (a) test specimens, (b) testing bending strength.

developed using 5% GRP waste bre attained 16.55 N/mm2 with
a standard deviation of 1.12. The bending strength of the 12 mm
thick panel with 5% GRP waste bre was 46% higher than that of
8 mm thick panels. Application of GRP waste bre increased the
bending strength of architectural cladding panel about 36% over
control specimens. Moreover, with the application of 5% GRP waste
bre, the bending strength of the 8 mm thick panel increased about
25% as compared to without GRP waste bre. Since, the quantity of
cement used in this study was lower than that of the normally used
cement to sand ratio (i.e. 1:0.5 to 1:1), the bending strength was
found to be lower than the conventional and commercially avail-
able products which is in concurrence with the work of Bentur and
Mindess [10]. Moreover, the GRP waste bre characterisation
results from this study revealed that the GRP waste bre sample
had a wide particle size ranging from 500 micrometre to 2 mm.
Consistent quality of GRP waste bre was expected to improve the
bending strength of cement composites.
One of the commercial grade panel products developed by
Marley Eternit [27] using the vacuum spray manufacturers process
showed that the bending strength of cladding panels developed
using virgin class bre varies from 17 N/mm2 to 24 N/mm2.
However, it was reported that the use of about 5% virgin class bre
with 1:1 cement to sand ratio by hand moulded premix process
resulted the bending strength of 9.8 N/mm2 [10]. Without the
addition of a superplasticiser with a sand to cement ratio of 1:1.6,
panel products could not be cast due to poor workability. The
results of this research revealed that the use of GRP waste bre with
the superplasticiser improved the quality of cement composites as
compared to the control specimen (without GRP waste).
The incorporation of glass bre in cement composites contrib-
uted to the reinforcement between the matrices and increased the
strength and toughness; and detained crack propagation of the
composites. It was reported that the high surface area and low
thickness of glass reinforced composite panels can lead to an
increase in drying shrinkage resulting in distortion, wrapping and
poor strength [28]. The chemical reaction of cement on bre rein-
forced plastic is not well established and long-term durability is
needed to be dened. However, studies on chemical interactions
between glass bre and cement showed that glass bre produced
from oxides of sodium oxide, silica and zirconium composition in
the powder form are inherently alkali resistant and suitable for
reinforcement with cement composites [29]. These types of glass
bres are currently being used commercially and expected not to
produce any adverse impact on the long-term durability. The thin
cement composite sheet using 5% virgin glass bre impregnated in
epoxy and dispersed in concrete mix has been used mostly in
Europe [10]. In making cement composite sheets, glass bre in the
form of continuous bre, or chopped bre or as a mat can be used.
The present study revealed that the application of GRP waste bre
has improved the bending strength and reduced the crack propa-
gation of the cement composites. It was interesting to note that the
control specimens (without GRP waste bre) showed multiple
cracks and low bending strength.
3.3.2. Effect of GRP waste bre on density of architectural cladding
panels
The mean density of 12 mm thick cement composites developed
using 5% GRP waste bre was 18% higher than that of the control
specimens (Fig. 10). Similarly, the mean density of 8 mm thick
panels developed with 5% GRP waste bre was 15% higher as

2500
Table 4
Effect of GRP waste bre (5%) on the bending strength of cement composites.
2000
Panel specimens Bending strength of architectural cladding panel (N/mm2)
Density (kg/m3)

GRP waste bre (5%) Without GRP waste bre

1500
Panel dimension: 300 mm  300 mm; 12 mm thickness
R1 17.42 11.99
R2 15.28 9.65 1000
R3 16.95 9.86
Mean 16.55 10.50
500
Standard 1.12 1.30
deviation
Panel dimension: 300 mm  300 mm; 8 mm thickness 0
R1 8.12 6.30 12 mm panel 12 mm panel 8 mm panel 8 mm panel
R2 9.43 6.73 with 5% GRP control with 5% GRP control
R3 9.08 6.99 waste fibre waste fibre
Mean 8.88 6.67
Standard 0.68 0.35
panels
deviation
Fig. 10. Effect of GRP waste bre on the density of architectural cladding panels.
 Author's personal copy
828 P. Asokan et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 17 (2009) 821829
compared to control samples. Since, the density of glass bre varied
from 2540 kg/m3 to 2780 kg/m3, the addition of 5% GRP waste bre
in the cement composites might have contributed to increase the
density of panels. Moreover, application of the superplasticiser
reduced the water content and contributed towards more
compaction and increased the quantity of cement composites
leading to a higher density. The mean density of 8 mm panels
developed without GRP waste bre was 1668 kg/m3.
3.4. Technical, economical and environmental benets
The major technical benet of using GRP waste powder in
concrete composites is the improvement of binding and adhesion of
concrete due to the presence of polymeric compounds, CaO, Al2O3
and SiO2 in GRP waste. Furthermore, the glass bre content in GRP
waste improved the reinforcement of the cement composites.
Making glass bre composites is a complex formulation and prop-
erties of the composites depend on the production process and mix
composition. However, the quality of panel products does depend
upon the consistency and properties of GRP waste bre, and access
to specialised experimental and manufacturing facilities. Moreover,
there is scope for possible inclusion of GRP waste powder along with
cement rather than the concrete mixing stage. However, further
studies are recommended to assess the suitability for cement
substitution by performing appropriate laboratory experiments. GRP
waste is an inert material; its application in concrete did not show
any undesirable effect during concrete mixing and making process.
The use of GRP waste in concrete contributes to cost savings
associated with waste handling, transport, storage and landll tax
payment. GRP waste substitution to ne aggregates in concrete
should save approximately 15% of the ne aggregate cost (substi-
tute to sand). Currently, almost all the GRP waste in United
Kingdom is sent to landll and the landll tax for non hazardous
waste is being raised from the current rate of 32/tonne by 8/year
until 2010/2011 [30]. GRP waste recycling is a viable option to help
with the UK 2007 waste strategy target of 50% waste reduction by
2012 in waste disposal to landll.
4. Conclusions
The key ndings of the use of GRP waste in concrete and cement
composites testing programme are as follows.
 The mean compressive strength of concrete using 5% and 15%
GRP waste powder without additives under water curing
attained 37 N/mm2 and 34 N/mm2 respectively.
 Application of 30% and 50% GRP waste powder in concrete
attained 29.5 N/mm2 and 19 N/mm2 compressive strength
respectively.
 Increased proportions of GRP waste in concrete decreased the
density (12%) and the minimum density was 2140 kg/m3 with
50% GRP waste powder.
 There was an increase in the compressive strength of concrete
with GRP application and the optimum compressive strength
(180 days) was 45.75 N/mm2.
 The bending strength in terms of modules of rupture (MOR) of
8 mm and 12 mm thick architectural panels is 8.8 N/mm2 and
16.5 N/mm2 respectively.
 CaO, Al2O3 and SiO2 and other polymeric compounds in GRP
waste have the potential to act as additives to improve the
binding and adhesion of concrete. The glass bre content
improved reinforcement in the cement composites.
Although the 28 days compressive strength was not higher than
the standard structural concrete values, i.e. 45 N/mm2, the ndings
of this preliminary study showed a viable technological option for
the use of GRP waste in precast concrete products such as precast
paving slabs, roof tiles, precast concrete wall elements, lightweight
concrete, concrete paving blocks and architectural cladding mate-
rials. The properties of panel products depend on the consistency
and quality of GRP waste bre, and access to specialised architectural
cladding manufacturing facilities. Furthermore, full compliance
tests such as durability and re properties for specic applications in
particular; and comparative life cycle analysis between GRP waste-
lled concrete and standard concrete in general are recommended.
The ndings of the present investigation have shown quite
encouraging results and opened an avenue for the recycling of GRP
waste ground powder and bre in concrete and cement composites.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Technology Strategy Board (UK)
for the opportunity to conduct this research; all the BEAWARE
project partners and their members for their support and cooper-
ation; and Hambleside Danelaw Rooights and Cladding Limited,
Scotland for supplying GRP waste powder and bre. Also thanks are
extended to the technicians and supporting staff of the Institute of
Polymer Technology and Materials Engineering and Department of
Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University for the
technical support.
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