Effect of PET bottle pieces and waste wrapper fibers on concrete compressive strength

Abstract

Abstract In this study, the main goal was to look into the effect on concrete’s compressive strength by the addition of used PET bottle pieces & wrapper strips collected from waste generated on railway stations. To achieve the target compressive strength for M50 grade concrete, strips were cut from waste wrappers and shredded polyethylene terephthalate (PET) pieces from PET bottles were used. Waste wrapper strips were cut down in three different aspect ratios and four different proportions, along with differing proportions of shredded PET bottle pieces. After 28 days of curing, compressive strength was determined and it is observed that the compressive strength of concrete was decreased by the inclusion of wrapper strips &PET bottle pieces in different ways. Mix ID M4 i.e. 5 × 30 mm, 7.5 gm wrapper &50 gm PET bottle pieces offer better performance relative to the other Mix IDs as compared to the control mix at 28 days. Therefore, 5 X 30 mm size strips of wrappers along with 50gm of PET bottle pieces are the best mix for the compressive strength of concrete compared with other mixes. In the case of proportioning different sizes of shredded wrappers used along with PET bottle pieces, improved results are obtained relative to all other Mix IDs as relative with the 28- day control mix. Multiple size strip of (PET) wrapper with a mixture of (5 × 20 mm, 2.5 gm), (5 × 30 mm, 3 gm), (5 × 40 mm, 2 gm), and 25 gm of broken bits of PET bottles is the better combination for concrete compressive strength than any other combination.