Waste Management 30 (2010) 1101–1106

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

Recycling of PET bottles as fine aggregate in concrete

Mariaenrica Frigione *
Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Via per Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy

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

Article history: An attempt to substitute in concrete the 5% by weight of fine aggregate (natural sand) with an equal
Accepted 25 January 2010 weight of PET aggregates manufactured from the waste un-washed PET bottles (WPET), is presented.
Available online 21 February 2010 The WPET particles possessed a granulometry similar to that of the substituted sand. Specimens with dif-
ferent cement content and water/cement ratio were manufactured. Rheological characterization on fresh
concrete and mechanical tests at the ages of 28 and 365 days were performed on the WPET/concretes as
well as on reference concretes containing only natural fine aggregate in order to investigate the influence
of the substitution of WPET to the fine aggregate in concrete. It was found that the WPET concretes dis-
play similar workability characteristics, compressive strength and splitting tensile strength slightly lower
that the reference concrete and a moderately higher ductility.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most common
consumer plastics used and is widely employed as a raw material
to realize products such as blown bottles for soft-drink use and
containers for the packaging of food and other consumer goods.
PET bottles have taken the place of glass bottles as storing vessel
of beverage due to its lightweight and easiness of handling and
storage.
In 2007, it is reported a world’s annual consumption of PET
drink covers of approximately 10 million tons, which presents per-
haps 250 milliards bottles. This number grows about up to 15%
every year (ECO PET, 2007). On the other hand, the number of recy-
cled or returned bottles is very low.
Generally, the empty PET packaging is discarded by the con-
sumer after use and becomes PET waste (WPET). The major prob-
lems that this level of waste production generates initially entail
storage and elimination (The Korea Institute of Resources Recy-
cling, 1999).
In the case of thermoplastic products, regeneration can also be
feasible. This latter technique is based on recycling, which sup-
poses that the waste has been presorted and potentially trans-
formed and which allows generating new materials while
stemming the increase in plastic waste.
The exponential growth in plastic waste from packaging incited
a search for alternative means of recycling (Marzouk et al., 2007).
The sorted post-consumer PET waste is crushed, pressed into
bales and offered for sale to recycling companies. Recycling compa-
nies will further treat the post-consumer WPET by shredding the
* Tel./fax: +39 0832 297215.
E-mail address: mariaenrica.frigione@unisalento.it.
material into small fragments. WPET flakes are used as raw mate-
rial for a range of products. Thus, a large waste PET is available for
recycling applications.
PET is widely recycled as a material, making a large contribution
to the recycling targets required for plastics by the EU directive
2004/12/EC (Plastics Europe, 2006). Nevertheless, a vast amount
of WPET still remains un-used. Indeed, PET is reported as one of
the most abundant plastics in solid urban waste (de Mello et al.,
2009). Being a non-biodegradable plastic waste, the disposal of
post-consumer PET has huge environmental impacts.
When material recycling is not feasible, PET can be incinerated
with energy recovery. However, there are active campaigns against
waste incineration, generally causing air pollution and contribute
to acid rain, and Greenpeace actively worked on these issues
(GreenChoices, 2009). On the other hand, the reduction of waste
benefits the natural environment with indubitable economical
advantages, since waste represents a large loss of resources and
raw materials that could be recovered, recycled or appointed to
other uses (WRAP, 2005).
Unsaturated polyester resin based on recycled PET can be used
to produce a good-quality polymer concrete (Siddique et al., 2008).
The polymer concrete is very resistant in both compression and
flexion, compared to conventional Portland cement concrete. It of-
fers the advantage of achieving over 80% of its ultimate mechanical
strength within 1 day. It does, however, show sensitivity to tem-
perature (Sam and Tam, 2002; Rebeiz, 1996).
The cost of producing polymer concrete from waste plastics,
however, is still high.
Hınıslıoğlu and Ağar (2004) investigated the possibility of using
various plastic wastes containing high-density polyethylene
(HDPE) as polymer additives to asphalt concrete. The results
indicated that waste HDPE-modified bituminous binders provide

0956-053X/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.01.030
1102 M. Frigione / Waste Management 30 (2010) 1101–1106
better resistance against permanent deformations due to their high
stability and high Marshal Quotient.
A different use implies the use of waste PET bottles as PET fibers
to produce fiber reinforced concrete with the aim to increase the
toughness of concrete (Ochi et al., 2007; Silva et al., 2005).
The use of PET waste in concrete will provide benefit in the dis-
posal of wastes and, in addition, will reduce the environmental
damages due to the use of natural mineral aggregates resources
(Tam et al., 2007; Fernando et al., 2008).
The use of fibers made by waste PET bottles in fiber reinforced
concrete is also able to control the plastic shrinkage cracking in ce-
ment-based composites (Ochi et al., 2007; Silva et al., 2005). Plastic
shrinkage cracking is a primary cause of reduced performance in
cement-based composites (Balaguru and Shah, 1992; Bentur and
Mindess, 1990; Won and Park, 1999). In particular, wide surfaces
such as bridge slabs or paving and parkinglot floors are affected
by restraint which can cause plastic shrinkage cracking before
the cement-based composite has hardened completely (Wang
et al., 2001; Naaman et al., 1999).
The production of concrete reinforced with fibers from waste
has many limitations and disadvantages. The characteristics and
low surface energy of plastic materials result in a poor mechanical
bond with the cement-based composite (Sehaj et al., 2004). Low
mechanical bond strengths may not provide sufficient bridging
force to control crack development (Li et al., 1994; Mobasher and
Li, 1996; Shannag et al., 1997). However, this procedure is able
to recycle only a small quantity of plastic waste, since the volumet-
ric amount of fiber content in the fiber reinforced concrete is be-
tween 0.3% and 1.5% (Akçaözoğlu et al., 2010).
The use of waste plastic as lightweight aggregate in the produc-
tion of lightweight concrete provides both the recycling of the plas-
tic waste and the production of a lightweight concrete in an
economical way (Koide et al., 2002).
Lightweight aggregate represents an effective way to reduce the
unit weight of concrete in order to produce earthquake resistant
structures, since the earthquake forces are linearly dependant on
the mass of the structure (Kiliç et al., 2003). Generally, lightweight
aggregate is made from ground stones. However, this lightweight
aggregate faces several problems: (a) its high cost due to the high
incineration temperature needed for grounding and (b) the high
shrinkage (Kohno et al., 1999).
There are several recent studies concerning lightweight con-
crete which incorporates WPET products as lightweight aggregates
(Akçaözoğlu et al., 2010; Choi et al., 2005, 2009).
Choi et al. (2005) used WPET as lightweight aggregate (5–
15 mm) in partial substitution of river sand aggregate in concrete
added with finely granulated blast-furnace slag (GBFS). GBFS was
still able to react with calcium hydroxide to form calcium silicate
hydrate (C–S–H). In addition, the transition interfacial zone be-
tween aggregates and cement paste resulted strengthened since
the GBFS consumes the calcium hydroxide. It was found that the
28-day compressive strength of concrete containing 25% of WPET
by volume of total mixture as fine aggregate is reduced of about
6% compared to that of control concrete possessing a water/cement
ratio (w/c) of 0.73 and of about 9% relative to concrete possessing a
w/c of 0.45. The splitting tensile strength decreases of 19% and 15%
with respect to concretes possessing w/c of 0.73 and 0.45,
respectively.
SEM analysis performed in the transition zone between the
WPET and the cement paste showed a tendency to be uniformly
and densely covered with calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H),
responsible of the hardening of cementitious matrix, at the age
of 28 days compared with that of the natural aggregate.
In a more recent study (Choi et al., 2009), it is reported the use
of lightweight aggregate formed by waste PET bottles (WPLA)
coated with powder from river sand, obtained with a precess con-
ducted at 250 °C. These aggregates showed a water absorption of
about 0%, which can counteract the defects of general lightweight
aggregates, possessing a high water absorption. The flow of WPLA
mortar increased proportionally to the proportion of WPLA in the
mix. The sorptivity coefficients of mortar were lower than that of
the control mortar when the proportion of WPLA in the mortar
mix was 25%. In addition, the compressive strength of mortar
tended to decrease as the mixture proportion of WPLA increased.
In comparison to the control lightweight concrete, the 28-day
WPLA concrete compressive strength decreased by 5%, 15% and
30%, with an increase of WPLA content of 25%, 50% and 75%,
respectively.
Other authors compared the behavior of two different mortars,
the first made with only WPET aggregates and the other made with
WPET and sand aggregates together (Akçaözoğlu et al., 2010).
Additionally, blast-furnace slag was also used as replacement of ce-
ment (at 50% of replacement on mass basis ratio). The water/binder
ratio and WPET/binder ratio used in the mixtures were 0.45 and
0.50, respectively. The size of shredded WPET granules used in
the preparation of mortar mixtures was up to 4 mm. The results
of the study carried out showed that mortar containing only WPET
aggregate, mortar containing WPET and sand aggregate and mortar
modified with slag as cement replacement can be drop all into
structural lightweight concrete category in terms of unit weight
and strength properties. Finally, the shrinkage values of the mortar
containing WPET aggregates were higher than those of the mortar
containing both WPET and sand aggregates. However, the quanti-
tative relationship between mortar and concrete can not be satis-
factory, generally.
Albano et al. (2009) analyzed the mechanical behavior of con-
crete containing WPET, varying the water/cement ratio (0.50 and
0.60), the WPET content (10 and 20 vol.%) and the particle size
(employing one small, i.e. 0.26 cm, and one big, i.e. 1.14 cm). The
results indicated that, as the volume proportion and the particle
size of WPET increased, WPET-filled concrete showed a decrease
in compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elas-
ticity and ultrasonic pulse velocity; moreover, the water absorp-
tion increased. It was reported, however, that the concrete
specimens were not fully compacted. Accordingly, they showed
the formation of honeycombs which seriously affected the strength
characteristics.
Only few attempts to reuse WPET plastics as partial and full
substitutes for sand or aggregates in standard concrete are re-
ported in literature. However, these papers reported tests per-
formed on washed or treated WPET or, alternatively, the
presented research is addressed to mortar and the results, there-
fore, cannot be transferred appropriately to concrete (Neville,
1995; Popovics, 1998).
Naik et al. (1996) determined the effects of inclusion of post-
consumer plastic in concrete. The material, a high-density polyeth-
ylene (HDPE) with dimensions ranging from 4.7 to 9.5 mm, was
used as fine aggregate in concrete. The particles of HDPE were sub-
jected to three chemical treatment (water, bleach, bleach + NaOH)
to improve their bonding with the cementitious matrix. The plastic
particles were added to the concrete in amounts ranging from 0%
to 5% by weight of total mixture. Compressive strength decreased
with increasing the amount of HDPE in concrete, particularly above
0.5% plastic addition. Of the three treatments used, the highest
compressive strength was achieved when the plastic was treated
with alkaline bleach. In the latter case, the compressive strength
of concrete was comparable or superior to that of the reference
mixture without plastic; on the other hand, the lowest compres-
sive strength was registered when the polymer was only bleached.
It is to be noted that the employment of processes such as the
alkaline beach will not solve ecological requirements, since Na(OH)
should be wasted in turn.
 M. Frigione / Waste Management 30 (2010) 1101–1106
Pezzi et al. (2006) incorporated WPET particles as aggregate in
concrete and evaluated physical and mechanical properties on the
resulted mixtures. The addition of WPET (balls with diameter rang-
ing from 15 to 25 mm) in fractions up to 10% by volume of aggre-
gate of total mixture did not cause significant variation in
compressive strength at low w/c ratios.
Marzouk et al. (2007) investigated the use in concrete of WPET
becoming from waste water bottles that were first separated,
washed and shredded. The fine aggregate was replaced by the
same volumetric percentage of recycled PET. The study demon-
strated that plastic particles may be successfully used as sand-sub-
stitution aggregates in cementitious concrete. It was initially seen
that, once the sand volume substituted with WPET aggregates in-
creased from 0% to 50%, the compressive strength of mortar
slightly decreased, of about 16%, in comparison with the reference
mortar. For 50% substitution of WPET, this decrease reaches 32.8%.
Recently, Yesilata et al. (2009) showed that WPET pieces
remarkably reduce thermal transmittance (or improve insulation
property) of ordinary concrete.
Ismail and AL-Hashmi (2008) investigated the possibility of
using various plastic wastes, containing approximately 80% poly-
ethylene and 20% polystyrene, as fine aggregates, up to 4.75 mm,
in concrete. By increasing the plastic waste content, the compres-
sive tests showed the tendency for compressive strength values of
plastic waste concrete to decrease below the reference concrete at
each curing age. The concrete with 10% of plastic waste displayed
the lowest compressive strength at 28 days curing age, about 30%
lower than that of the reference concrete mixture.
The formation of the interfacial zone in conventional concretes
is due, to a large extent, to the formation of water-filled spaces
around the aggregates in the fresh mix, with an effective larger
water/cement ratio in the vicinity of the aggregate surface. As a re-
sult, the space around the aggregates is less effectively filled by
hydration products and, at the same time, there is a greater ten-
dency for Ca(OH)2 (following indicated as CH) and calcium sulpho
aluminate, known as ‘‘ettringite’’, to develop in this space, since
these two compounds form and deposit preferentially in large
pores. As a result, in the conventional aggregates the interfacial
zone is generally weak (Bentur, 1989). According to Bentur et al.
(1989), the interfacial microstructure observed around poly-pro-
pylene fibers in a concrete mix is quite dense and uniform, show-
ing no tendency for formation of CH at the interface, as may occur
with other synthetic fibers. Furthermore, the increase in strength
and reduction in toughness in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites
might be due to improved bond, which may be associated with a
densification of the interface. This dense and uniform microstruc-
ture in the interfacial zone and the absence of CH crystals may
be related to the nature of the surface of the synthetic particles
(Bentur and Older, 1996).
The latter behavior can be hypothesized also for PET particles,
due to their hydrophobic character. As a confirmation, the forma-
tion of a dense interface has been already observed through the
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) by different authors (Choi
et al., 2005; Pezzi et al., 2006). Moreover, Pezzi et al. (2006)
showed that, when the percentage of PET in the mixtures increases,
the bond between hydrated cement and PET becomes very weak.
However, in that case the dimension of the PET particles was con-
siderably large, i.e. ranging between 15 and 25 mm.
In this paper, the attention was focused on the use of WPET par-
ticles incorporated as aggregate in concrete in partial substitution
of an equivalent weight of natural sand. The aim of the research
was to achieve a concrete with a mechanical behavior similar to
those containing only siliceous sand as fine aggregate. The em-
ployed WPET was not subjected to any treatment, such as washing.
This substitution was planned on the basis of the consideration that
the mechanical behavior of concrete is controlled by the interface
1103
between the cement matrix (composed by cement–fine aggre-
gate–water–air) and coarse aggregate (Brandt, 1995). The introduc-
tion of WPET was, therefore, limited to the fine aggregate fraction.
The 5% by weight of fine aggregate was substituted by an iden-
tical weight of WPET particles in the fraction 0.1–5 mm. These par-
ticles possessed a similar grading curve to that of the substituted
natural sand.
Rheological behavior and mechanical properties were evaluated
on the produced concrete and discussed. A reference concrete con-
taining only natural fine aggregate was also prepared and tested.
The tests performed were aimed to investigate the influence of
the substitution of WPET to the fine aggregate in concrete, em-
ployed when particular properties of weight are not required, as
a function of cement content and water/cement ratio. The test
evaluations were made at the ages of 28 and 365 days.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
Type I Portland cement, conforming to EN 197/1 specification,
was used (specific surface area Blaine of 3.550 and 28-day com-
pressive strength of 48.0 MPa). The potential compounds of the ce-
ment are: C3S 48%; C2S 24%; C3A 9%; C4AF 7%.
For the reference concrete, the graded coarse (5–20 mm, spe-
cific gravity = 2.82) consisted of crushed natural siliceous material
and the fine aggregates of siliceous sand (0.1–5 mm) from fluvial
deposits. The grading curve of these aggregates was according
Bolomey curve. The granulometry of the fine aggregates to be
substituted are reported in Table 1.
WPET aggregates were manufactured from the waste PET bot-
tles, un-washed and not separated on the basis of the colour,
according to the following procedure. The waste PET bottles, pos-
sessing a thickness of 1–1.5 mm, were grinded in a blade mill to
the size of 0.1–5 mm. Then, the obtained particles were separated,
through sieves and subsequently reassembled accordingly to the
granulometric curve of the fine aggregate that they were going to
substitute (Table 1).
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a thermoplastic polyester
with tensile and flexural modulus of elasticity of about 2.9 and
2.4 GPa, respectively, tensile strength up to 60 MPa and excellent
chemical resistance. It is a semi-crystalline polymer, with a melt-
ing point of about 260 °C and a glass transition temperature rang-
ing from 70 to 80 °C, in relation to the amount of crystalline region
enclosed in the amorphous phase. Its density (specific gravity) is
around 1.3–1.4 g/cm3 (Van Krevelen, 1990).
2.2. Mixtures preparation
Concrete mixtures of 0.100 m3 (reported in Table 2 as A, B, C
and D) were mixed in a laboratory counter-current mixer. All the
Table 1
Characterization of fine aggregates.
Sieve Percentage retained (in
weight)
Siliceous sand WPET
5.00 mm 0 0
2.36 mm 12 15
1.18 mm 12 11
600 lm 19 18
300 lm 35 37
150 lm 17 19
<150 lm 5 –
Specific gravity 2.61 1.32
Bulk density compacted (ASTM C29) kg/m3 1550 660
1104 M. Frigione / Waste Management 30 (2010) 1101–1106

Table 2
Mixtures composition.

Mix Cement content (kg/m3) Coarse aggregate (kg/m3) Fine aggregate (kg/m3) w/c Aggregate-cement ratio
Reference A 300 1600 500 0.45 7.0
Concrete A 300 0.45
Reference B 300 1550 550 0.55
Concrete B 300 0.55
Reference C 400 1500 420 0.45 4.8
Concrete C 400 0.45
Reference D 400 1440 480 0.55
Concrete D 400 0.55

aggregates were in saturated and surface-dry conditions, such as
all the pores in the aggregates were full and cannot absorb water
from the fresh mix. The different mixes realized are described in
Table 2. They differ in cement content and in w/c ratios. The code
‘‘Concrete’’ denotes mixes containing WPET while ‘‘Reference’’ re-
fers to control specimens, i.e. containing only natural sand.
The workability of freshly-mixed concrete was measured
immediately after mixing as follows: for concretes A, B and C
according to VeBe test (EN 12350-3); for concrete D according to
flow test (EN 12350-5).
2.3. Test methods
Six cubics (side = 150 mm), three cylinders (height = 300 mm,
diameter = 150 mm) and three prisms (75 mm side square cross-
sections, 285 mm long) were made from any typical batch of con-
crete. The cubics were cast for testing in compression at 28 and
365 d and to obtain the r–e curve at 28 d, the cylinders were used
in order to determinate the 28 d splitting tensile strength and the
prisms to evaluate shrinkage. All specimens were compacted on a
vibrating table.
After casting, all the moulded specimens were covered with
water-saturated burlaps and left in the room at 20 ± 1 °C and 95%
R.H. After 24 h, all specimens were demoulded and placed in the
moist-curing room up to 7 days. Then, they were transferred in a
room at 20 °C and 80% R.H. before the testing, with the only excep-
tion of the prisms for the shrinkage test. The latter were, in fact,
stored for 7 days in lime-saturated water. After this conditioning,
the prisms were transferred into the drying room at 20 ± 1 °C
and 50 ± 3% R.H. The test results reported are the averaged results
obtained on three identical specimens.
Compressive strength was determined according to ASTM C 39,
splitting tensile strength according to ASTM C 496, r–e curve using
a simple method to obtain the complete stress–strain curve of con-
crete according to Galeota and Giammatteo (1989). Shrinkage was
determined according to ASTM C 157.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Fresh concrete
The VeBe times or flow values of all the mixes realized are given
in Table 3.
All the mixes containing WPET aggregates in replacement of
natural sand showed VeBe time or flow values very close to those
relative to their reference concrete, i.e. possessing the same cement
content and water/cement ratio. In fact, small percentages of fine
aggregates, such as WPET, do not affect the water absorption. In
addition, no segregation was observed in any mix even though
the concretes were made without the addition of bonding
additives.
3.2. Compressive strength
The results of compressive strength tests at 28 days and 1 year
are shown in Table 3. The results shown are the mean made on
three specimens whose single values do not differ more
than ± 0.3 MPa from the mean reported in the Tables. However,
the trend of all results clearly displays the tendency of a small de-
crease in the strengths in the concretes containing WPET.
The increase in strength at 365 days respect to the values mea-
sured at 28 days are similar for the two concretes and in line with
standard concrete.
Compressive strength was slightly decreased (not lower than
2%) when WPET was added in substitution of natural sand. Accord-
ing to Ismail and AL-Hashmi (2008) this trend can be attributed to
the decrease in adhesive strength between the surface of the plas-
tic waste and the cement paste.
The compressive strength of WPET concretes increases from 28
to 365 days similarly to what observed for the specimens without
WPET. The differences in compressive strength observed at 28 days
were substantially identical to those measured at 365 days. The
differences in strength resulted higher at lower cement content

Table 3
Workability, compressive strength and split tensile strength of concretes.

Mix Workability Compressive strength Split tensile strength

28 days 365 days 28 days
VeBe (s) Flow value (%) MPa Variation of strength (%) MPa Variation of strength (%) MPa Variation of strength (%)
Reference A 60 68.0 74.1 6.1
Concrete A 62 67.5 0.7 73.2 0.9 6.0 1.6
Reference B 15 41.5 49.0 4.2
Concrete B 15 40.7 1.9 48.2 1.6 4.1 2.4
Reference C 35 70.0 78.0 6.3
Concrete C 37 69.7 0.4 77.7 0.4 6.3 –
Reference D 46 44.0 53.5 4.7
Concrete D 49 43.2 1.8 52.5 1.9 4.6 2.1
 M. Frigione / Waste Management 30 (2010) 1101–1106
and, most of all, at higher values of w/c ratio. This occurrence may
be, therefore, explained in terms of a higher content of bleeding
water. The latter, mostly located around the aggregate particles
of WPET, produced a weaker bond between the cement matrix
and WPET.
3.3. Split tensile strength
The values of splitting tensile strength are reported in Table 3.
As already underlined for the compressive strength, the results
shown are the mean made on three specimens whose single values
do not differ more than ±0.02 MPa from the mean reported in the
Tables. Nevertheless, it results evident that this property slightly
decreases by substituting natural sand with WPET, as the compres-
sive strength does. Higher reductions are found in the case of high-
er values of w/c ratio. The explanation reported for the decrease in
compressive strength can be extended for the reductions observed
in splitting tensile strength.
3.4. Stress–strain behavior
The stress–strain curves determined from compression tests for
the reference concrete (w/c = 0.45, cement content 400 kg/m3) and
WPET/concrete are plotted in Fig. 1. It can be noted that the two
systems display very similar compressive strength curves. An in-
crease in the strain corresponding to the maximum stress is regis-
tered for the WPET/concrete, from 0.0018 for reference concrete to
0.0020 for WPET/concrete. In addition, from the peak value of the
r–e curve and from the shape of the same curve, it can be seen that
the reference concrete is more brittle then the WPET/concrete (i.e.
the presence of WPET particles produces a softening behavior). The
ratios between the maximum strength for each concrete and the
strength calculated on the descending part of the r–e curve at
3‰ and 4‰ of the strain, respectively, are related to the toughness
of the concretes (Frigione and Spadea, 1981). The values calculated
are 0.66 and 0.47 for reference concrete in correspondence of 3‰
and 4‰ of the strain, respectively, and 0.79 and 0.51 for WPET con-
crete, in correspondence of the same strains, respectively. The elas-
tic modulus, calculated on the r–e curve according to Galeota and
Giammatteo (1989), are 48.1 and 41.8 GPa for reference and WPET
concretes, respectively. It can be concluded that there is an in-
Fig. 1. Stress–strain curves for Reference C (plain line) and Concrete C (dotted line).
1105
Table 4
Shrinkage values of concretes.
Mix 365 days
 10 6
Variation of shrinkage (%)
Reference A 650
Concrete A 665 +2.3
Reference B 860
Concrete B 881 +2.4
Reference C 790
Concrete C 811 +2.6
Reference D 960
Concrete D 987 +2.8
crease in the toughness and ductility when WPET is used as a par-
tial substitute of fine aggregate in a reference concrete.
The failure modes registered for WPTE/concrete indicate that
the latter can withhold a larger deformation still keeping its integ-
rity. These results can be explained in terms of the very ductile
behavior of WPET to respect to the brittle concrete. The WPET par-
ticles are relatively compressible and are able to prevent interac-
tion between paste and the stiff aggregate, thus lowering the
stiffness of the concrete. In addition, the absence of CH crystals be-
tween the hydration products formed at the interface must be also
taken into account. The latter, in conventional concrete, are in
charged to produce the formation of preferential fracture planes
due to the non-random orientation of CH, which cleaves relatively
easily along its basal plane (Alexander, 1996).
3.5. Shrinkage
In Table 4, the values of shrinkage measured after 1 year of
aging on all the mixes realized are reported. The variations of
shrinkage respect to reference concrete are also shown. It can be
noted that the replacement of natural sand with WPET determined
a certain increase of the drying shrinkage. This result was found to
be in line to the published literature (Koide et al., 2002). Being the
concrete compact, no water transfer inside the specimens can be
hypothesized, as also witnessed by the stability of weight. There-
fore, the slight increase in shrinkage cannot be related to water
loss, as in the case of lightweight concretes. On the other hand, it
can be related to the slight decrease in elastic modulus, as calcu-
lated on the r–e curve reported in Fig. 1. According to Mehta
(1989) drying shrinkage and elastic modulus characteristics of con-
crete are largely influenced, among other factors, by the concrete
mechanical properties. In general, when the elastic modulus is re-
duced, the drying shrinkage is increased.
The variations of shrinkage values, however, are acceptable for
several use of structural concrete (Sagoe-Crentsil et al., 2001).
4. Conclusions
The substitution of 5% by weight of siliceous sand with an equal
weight of grinded WPET leads to:
- referring to the fresh state, the same values of workability of
concretes possessing the same w/c ratio;
- irrelevant differences in compressive strength at 28 days and
1 year between reference concretes and mixes containing WPET
at low w/c ratio (0.45); the differences become a little signifi-
cant by increasing the w/c ratio (up to 0.55). It is likely that,
due to the bleeding, by increasing the w/c ratio, the interface
between WPET and the hydrated cement Portland presents a
higher porosity, also as a consequence of the flat shape of the
WPET pieces.
1106 M. Frigione / Waste Management 30 (2010) 1101–1106
- split tensile strength properties similar to what found for com-
pressive strength;
- stress–strain relationship with a higher steepness for WPET
concrete;
- shrinkage influenced by the higher ductility of the concrete
containing WPET, but still acceptable for several use of struc-
tural concrete.
It can be concluded that, in the experimented range of concrete
content (from 300 to 400 kg/m3) and water/cement ratio (from
0.45 to 0.55), the substitution of 5% by weight of siliceous sand
with pieces of WPET, obtained from the blade mill grinding of
waste PET, even if un-washed, allows to achieve a concrete charac-
terized by the same workability and no segregation with respect to
a reference similar concrete. The compressive strength and split-
ting tensile strength of WPET concrete are of 0.4–1.9% lower than
the reference concretes but with a slightly higher ductility.
From an ecological point of view, economic and energy-con-
serving benefits are possible from the incorporation of waste PET,
without any particular treatment, in concrete. The main advantage
of recycling PET in concrete is that this plastic material does not
have to be purified, nor the removal of colours is required, like in
other common PET recycling applications.
References
Akçaözoğlu, S., Atisß, C.D., Akçaözoğlu, K., 2010. An investigation on the use of
shredded waste PET bottles as aggregate in lightweight concrete. Waste
Management 30 (2), 285–290.
Albano, C., Camacho, N., Hernandez, M., Matheus, A., Gutierrez, A., 2009. Influence of
content and particle size of waste pet bottles on concrete behavior at different
w/c ratios. Waste Management 29, 2707–2716.
Alexander, M.G., 1996. The effects of ageing on the interfacial zone in concrete. In:
Maso, J.C. (Ed.), Interfacial Transition Zone in Concrete. RILEM Report II, E&FN
Spon, London, pp. 150–174.
Balaguru, P.N., Shah, S.P., 1992. Fiber Reinforced Cement Composites. McGraw-Hill
International Editions.
Bentur, A., 1989. In: Skalny, J.P. (Ed.), Materials Science of Concrete, American
Ceramic Soc., USA, pp. 223–284.
Bentur, A., Mindess, S., 1990. Fibre Reinforced Cementitious Composites. Elsevier
Applied Science, London, pp. 1–11.
Bentur, A., Older, I., 1996. Development and nature of interfacial microstructure. In:
Maso, J.C. (Ed.), Interfacial Transition Zone in Concrete. RILEM Report II, E&FN
Spon, London, pp. 18–44.
Bentur, A., Mindess, S., Vondran, G., 1989. Bonding in polypropylene fibre reinforced
concrete. International Journal of Cement Composites and Lightweight Concrete
11, 153–158.
Brandt, A.M., 1995. Cement-Based Composites. Materials, Mechanical Properties
and Performance. E&FN Spon, London, pp. 36–37.
Choi, Y.-W., Moon, D.-J., Chung, J.-S., Cho, S.-K., 2005. Effects of waste PET bottles
aggregate on the properties of concrete. Cement and Concrete Research 35 (4),
776–781.
Choi, Y.-W., Moon, D.-J., Kim, Y.-J., Lachemi, M., 2009. Characteristics of mortar and
concrete containing fine aggregate manufactured from recycled waste
polyethylene terephthalate bottles. Construction and Building Materials 23,
2829–2835.
de Mello, D., Pezzin, S.H., Amico, S.C., 2009. The effect of post-consumer PET
particles on the performance of flexible polyurethane foams. Polymer Testing
28, 702–708.
ECO PET, 2007. <http://www.ecopet.eu/Domino_english/ecopet.htm>.
Fernando, P.T., Castro Gomes, J.P., Said, J., 2008. Adhesion characterization of
tungsten mine waste geopolymeric binder. Influence of OPC concrete substrate
surface treatment. Construction and Building Materials 22 (3), 154–161.
Frigione, G., Spadea, G., 1981. Effects of the contents and the type of cement on the
ductility of concrete. Il Cemento 78, 119–130.
Galeota, D., Giammatteo, M.M., 1989. Stress–strain relations of normal and
lightweight concrete with silica fume under uniaxial compression. In: Fly Ash,
Silica Fume, Slag and Natural Pozzolans in Concrete, Proceedings of Third
International Conference, ACI SP-114, Trondheim, Norway, vol. 2, pp. 991–1012.
GreenChoices, 2009. <http://www.greenchoices.org/index.php/home>.
Hınıslıoğlu, S., Ağar, E., 2004. Use of waste density polyethylene as bitumen
modifier in asphalt concrete mix. Materials Letters 58 (3–4), 267–271.
Ismail, Z.Z., AL-Hashmi, E.A., 2008. Use of waste plastic in concrete mixture as
aggregate replacement. Waste Management 28, 2041–2047.
Kiliç, A., Atisß, C.D., Yasßar, E., Özcan, F., 2003. High strength lightweight concrete
made with scoria aggregate containing mineral admixtures. Cement and
Concrete Research 33 (10), 1595–1599.
Kohno, K., Okamoto, T., Isikawa, Y., Sibata, T., Mori, H., 1999. Effects of artificial
lightweight aggregate on autogenous shrinkage of concrete. Cement and
Concrete Research 29, 611–614.
Koide, H., Tomon, M., Sasaki, T., 2002. Investigation of the Use of Waste Plastic as an
Aggregate for Lightweight Concrete. Sustainable Concrete Construction,
London. pp. 177–186.
Li, V.C., Chan, Y.W., Wu, H.C., 1994. Interface strengthening mechanisms in
polymeric fiber reinforced cementitious composites. In: Proceeding of
International Symposium of Brittle Matrix Composites, Warsaw, September
13–15. IKE and Woodhead Publish, Warsaw, pp. 7–16.
Marzouk, O.Y., Dheilly, R.M., Queneudec, M., 2007. Valorization of post-consumer
waste plastic in cementitious concrete composites. Waste Management 27,
310–318.
Mehta, P.K., 1989. Pozzolanic and cementitious by-products in concrete – another
look. In: Fly Ash, Silica Fume, Slag and Natural Pozzolans in Concrete,
Proceedings of Third International Conference, ACI SP-114, Trondheim,
Norway, vol. 1, pp. 1–43.
Mobasher, B., Li, C.Y., 1996. Effect of interfacial properties on the crack propagation
in cement based composites. Advances in Cement Based Materials 4 (3–4), 93–
105.
Naaman, A.E., Xia, Z., Hikasa, J.I., Saito, T., 1999. Control of plastic shrinkage cracking
of concrete with PVA fibers. In: Proceedings of International Symposium on
Infrastructure Regeneration and Rehabilitation, June 28–July 2, University of
Sheffield, UK, pp. 371–385.
Naik, T.R., Singh, S.S., Huber, C.O., Brodersen, B.S., 1996. Use of post-consumer waste
plastics in cement-based composites. Cement and Concrete Research 26 (10),
1489–1492.
Neville, A.M., 1995. Properties of Concrete, fourth ed. Longman Group Limited,
Essex, UK, p. 844.
Ochi, T., Okubo, S., Fukui, K., 2007. Development of recycled PET fiber and its
application as concrete-reinforcing fiber. Cement and Concrete Composites 29,
448–455.
Pezzi, L., De Luca, P., Vuono, D., Chiappetta, F., Nastro, A., 2006. Concrete products
with waste’s plastic material (bottle, glass, plate). Materials Science Forum 514–
516, 1753–1760.
Plastics Europe, 2006. <http://www.plasticseurope.org/>.
Popovics, S., 1998. Technology & Engineering. Wiley, New York, p. 535.
Rebeiz, K.S., 1996. Precast use of polymer concrete using unsaturated resin based on
recycled PET waste. Construction and Building Materials 10, 215–220.
Sagoe-Crentsil, K.K., Brown, T., Taylor, A.H., 2001. Performance of concrete made
with commercially produced coarse recycled concrete aggregate. Cement and
Concrete Research 31 (5), 707–712.
Sam, T.D., Tam, M.N., 2002. Polymer concrete based on recycled polyethylene
terephthalate (PET). NOCMAT/3. In: Vietnam International Conference on Non-
Conventional Material and Technologies, pp. 226–228.
Sehaj, S., Arun, S., Richard, B., 2004. Pullout behavior of polypropylene fibers from
cementitious matrix. Cement and Concrete Research 34 (10), 1919–1925.
Shannag, M.J., Brinker, R., Hansen, W., 1997. Pullout behavior of steel fibers from
cement-based composites. Cement and Concrete Research 27 (6), 925–936.
Siddique, R., Khatib, J., Kaur, I., 2008. Use of recycled plastic in concrete: a review.
Waste Management 28, 1835–1852.
Silva, D.A., Betioli, A.M., Gleize, P.J.P., Roman, H.R., Gomez, L.A., Ribeiro, J.L.D., 2005.
Degradation of recycled PET fibers in Portland cement-based materials. Cement
and Concrete Research 35, 1741–1746.
Tam, W.Y.V., Tam, C.M., Wang, Y., 2007. Optimization on proportion for recycled
aggregate in concrete using two-stage mixing approach. Construction and
Building Materials 21 (10), 1928–1939.
The Korea Institute of Resources Recycling, 1999. The Korean Institute of Resources
Recycling, Recycling Handbook. The Korea Institute of Resources Recycling,
Korea, pp. 206–215.
Van Krevelen, D.W., 1990. Properties of Polymers, Elsevier, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands, 1990.
Wang, K., Shah, S.P., Pariya, P., 2001. Plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete
materials: influence of fly ash and fibers. ACI Materials Journal 96 (6), 458–464.
Won, J.P., Park, C.G., 1999. Shrinkage cracking and durability characteristics of
polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete. Journal KSCE 15 (5), 783–790.
WRAP, 2005. <http://www.wastereduction.org>.
Yesilata, B., Isiker, Y., Turgut, P., 2009. Thermal insulation enhancement in concretes
by adding waste PET and rubber pieces. Construction and Building Materials 23
(5), 1878–1882.