Experimental study of the thermal and mechanical properties of concrete incorporating recycled polyethylene

The widespread use of plastics worldwide generates a large amount of plastic waste that needs to be recycled to minimize its negative impact on the environment. The use of plastic waste as a partial replacement for traditional aggregates remains a solution not only to reduce the amount of plastic waste but also to reduce the overexploitation of natural resources such as quarries. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the mechanical and thermal properties of concrete containing 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% polyethylene waste (PEW) particles as a partial replacement of coarse aggregates. Several experiments were conducted to evaluate workability, density, compressive strength, and thermophysical properties. The results show that the substitution of recycled PE for coarse aggregate in concrete improves thermal insulation, which leads to the potential use of these concretes as construction materials with many environmental benefits.