A Study on Mechanical Properties and Leaching Behaviour of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Incineration Ash/Epoxy Composites

Municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration ash is the residue after incineration of municipal solid waste. It is currently sent to the landfill. It is known that MSW incineration ash is rich in a mixture of oxide and carbonate ceramics that are potentially used as secondary resources, such as fillers for composite materials. In this study, the effect of MSW incineration ash, such as a mixture of fly ash and bottom ash as filler in the epoxy composite was studied for the characterisation of mechanical properties such as flexural and tensile strengths. The investigation was done by varying MSW incineration ash concentration with different percentages of fly ash and bottom ash mixture. The results suggested that the tensile and flexural strengths of the composites decreased with the incorporation of incineration ash into epoxy-based composites due to weaker interfacial bonding between the incineration ash and the epoxy matrix. Nevertheless, results of the leaching test indicate that heavy metals were immobilised into the polymer matrix of composites. Hence, reuse of MSW incineration ash as filler in the composite appears a promising opportunity to obtain valuable raw material from municipal solid waste and reduce the dependence on natural mineral fillers.