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Partially replacing sand with waste plastic. Thoughts? 4

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MorganA

Civil/Environmental
Dec 9, 2020
2
Currently writing a research paper on the above topic. It is said that around 10%, by weight, of sand can be replaced by granulated waste plastic (to roughly the size of sand)and be almost as strong.
My question to you all is, would yourselves, or do you think companies would make this small change? I understand where strength is the main concerns for the application of concrete then one would rather be safe, however in other applications such as paving slabs and other things you may think of (please say below) then making this change would be greatly beneficial in helping solve the waste plastic epidemic and also estimating to save using roughly 820M.t of sand a year.
 
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Yeah,

I don't think it will help much in flexural, if not hurting. Is the extra process contributed to the higher cost?
 
Think about this:
If there was any free or cheap material that could be added to concrete that either improves its properties or at least doesn't degrade them, don't you think that they would be adding it already? The concrete industry is highly technical, but bottom line, they know they are a commodity and if the end user could save a buck by going down the road to the guy who adds some garbage to their mix, they'd go there.
 
If there is a mandate or incentive, that's another issue, clean energy for instance.
 
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