Thermoplastic Binder from Plastic Waste

The accumulation of plastic waste and the pollution of ecosystems with micro plastics has become a global problem of our time. The basic industry for the efficient utilization of plastic waste is the construction industry. When collecting and sorting waste, polyolefins and polyethylene terephthalate are most successfully selected, but when they are used in building compositions as fillers, their binding potential is not realized. We have production experience in processing polyolefin waste into polymer concrete products; however, the quality of the products is unstable, due to the lack of a regulatory framework and insufficient scientific justification for the selection of compositions and manufacturing technologies. The possibility of obtaining polymer sand concrete products using thermoplastic waste as binders is shown. Polymer sand samples based on a mixture of polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene waste in a ratio of 95–80 to 5–20% by mass have a density of up to 2000 kg/m³, and, if compared with cement concrete, the compressive strength is not lower than class B12.5, tensile strength in bending is not lower than class Вtb6.8 with a variation coefficient of 30%, have higher impact strength. Manufacturing technology is of low-power consumption; products acquire tempering strength within an hour after manufacturing. Increased reproducibility of indicators of properties of polymer concrete based on thermoplastic waste remains an important technological challenge. The use of thermoplastic waste as binders in building compositions is a real way to solve the environmental problem of plastic pollution, corresponding to the concept of sustainable development and the principles of a circular economy.

N.N. FOMINA¹, Candidate of Sciences (Engineering) (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.);
V.G. KHOZIN², Doctor of Sciences (Engineering) (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

¹ Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov (77, Polirechnicheskaya Street, Saratov, 410054, Russian Federation)
² Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering (1, Zelenaya Street, Kazan, 420043, Russian Federation)

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