Construction and Building Materials 109 (2016) 55–62

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

The effect of using polyethylene terephthalate particles on physical and

strength-related properties of concrete; a laboratory evaluation
Amir Mahyar Azhdarpour a,⇑, Mohammad Reza Nikoudel b, Milad Taheri c
a
Geological Survey of Iran
b
Department of Engineering Geology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
c
Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Bu Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran

h i g h l i g h t s

 Adding PET to mortar can influence the physical structure and strength of concrete.
 By using PET, the weight of produced concrete reduces.
 An increase at PET ratio and curing age makes samples more deformable before failure.
 The speed of sound in concrete decreases along with the increase of PET ratio in it.
 Using PET in concrete will significantly reduce environmental pollution.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present study was an attempt to investigate the effects of adding plastic waste particles on the engi-
Received 12 May 2015 neering properties of concrete. To this end, a mix concrete design was adopted in which pre-defined
Received in revised form 23 December 2015 weight-based amounts of the concrete fine aggregates were replaced by equivalent waste fragments.
Accepted 30 January 2016
At all the mixtures, the amount of the coarse aggregate (gravel) and the water–cement ratio remained
constant. The results of laboratory tests showed that the added plastic fragments changed both physical
and strength-related properties of newly produced concretes. More specifically, physical properties (e.g.
Keywords:
density and ultra sound velocity) gradually decreased as the presence of plastic fragment ratios increased.
Solid waste
Concrete
On the other hand, compressive, tensile, and flexural strength of samples rose, when 5–10% of the con-
Environment crete fine aggregates were replaced by the same percentage of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) frag-
PET ments. The results also indicated that substitutions greater than 10% cause dramatic decline in all
Strength strength-related parameters of the concretes. It is therefore argued that replacement of fine particles with
PET fragments may positively affect the strength-related values of the concrete samples provided that as
long as the substation rate is under 10%.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Engineering properties of concrete can change by adding differ-
ent types of materials or adopting proper mix designs. The deter-
mining issue in this regard is the interaction between cement
and concrete aggregates, on the one hand, and added materials,
on the other. The ratio of added materials to concrete is also cru-
cial, with numerous studies indicating the influence of these mate-
rials on concrete’s engineering properties [24,2,35,21,8,5]. Various
materials may be added to concrete with the aim of changing its
engineering properties. Some of these materials will improve
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: amazhdarpour@gmail.com (A.M. Azhdarpour).
concrete properties, while others may have negative effects [20].
Additionally, changes in mix design may strengthen or weaken
engineering properties of concrete. Considering the impact of addi-
tive materials, an interesting line of research has investigated the
effect of waste on concrete properties (see: [33]). Additive materi-
als like resin [7], fiber/rubber [6,12,41,19,42,3]; and also see: [31],
slag [28,30], plastics [8,33], etc. are mixed with constituents of
concrete to reinforce its engineering properties. Plastic materials
are one of the most abundantly employed substances in commer-
cial and industrial products (see: [33]). They have been used alone
or in combination with other materials, like slag, not only to
change concrete properties, but also to decrease environmental
risks [45]. There are also other types of non-synthetic material
utilized to strengthen concrete products, i.e. coal combustion

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.01.056
0950-0618/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
56 A.M. Azhdarpour et al. / Construction and Building Materials 109 (2016) 55–62
by-products, limestone powder waste and different forms of fly
ashes [32,34,36,39,22].
One particular area that researchers have been is the influence
of adding industrial wastewater (instead of fresh water) on con-
crete properties [15,46]. In the research performed by Ismail and
Al-Hashmie [15], wastewater has been added to the concrete at
various ratios; resulting in slight to moderate increase in compres-
sive strength and hardness values of concrete and decrease of its
flow rate [15]. Thus, as another environmental pollutant, industrial
wastewater can also be used for concrete production.
Different researchers made attempts to find out whether plastic
bottles or waste that are converted to fiber would have any effect
on concrete properties [17,20]. The results demonstrated that fiber
affects the concrete structure and reduces compressive strength
and elasticity modulus. At the same time, it decreases concrete
shrinkage and cracking. In fact, the influence of fiber on concrete
is comparable with that of reinforcement bar [17]. Plastic wastes
often have less weight per unit volume than concrete aggregates.
Therefore, if they replace concrete aggregates, the unit weight of
concrete and materials produced out of it will decrease. Because
of their light weight, such materials are highly resistant to earth-
quakes and will significantly reduce the number of casualties once
they are demolished and turned into debris [18,43,16,4,38,11,29].
The polyethylene terephthalate polymer has some special phys-
ical and chemical properties such as high pressure tolerance,
chemical interaction resistance, light weight, high flexibility etc.
[23]. It is therefore widely used for different industrial purposes
([26,17,25,42] and also see: [33]). After initial use, these bottle
are taken to landfills or recycling sites as waste. Plastics are very
resistant to decomposition and remain in the environment for tens
or even hundreds of years. This long-lasting durability of plastics in
the environment has become one of the environmental risks in the
modern industrial society [33,8,25]. It may be claimed that the use
of plastic waste as concrete aggregate is not economically justifi-
able; however, given that vast quantities of plastic waste are annu-
ally produced and this process increases physical pollution,
especially in the form of burning waste, it seems that it is econom-
ically justified to exploit this material in another way. Several
research projects have been conducted to detect the effects of
replacing concrete’s natural aggregates with various percentages
of PET particles (with different sizes and shapes)
[26,23,10,17,37,13]. In the majority of these studies, sand was
the most common aggregate replaced by PET particles. The
researcher was particularly interested in studying civil engineering
issues, ranging from the workability of mortar [26,23,10] to
flammability of final concrete products [37]. Accordingly, while
Sahmaran et al. [27] and Turkmen [40] tried to find a way to com-
pensate the declined values of mechanical strength of polymer
concretes, Ge et al. [13] and Albano et al. [1] made attempts to pro-
duce a more light weight and sound proof concrete by using differ-
ent types of synthetic substances in the mortar.
Waste materials like PET may have negative impacts on con-
crete’s mechanical properties; however, since their employment
in the production of polymer concretes is regarded as an environ-
mentally friendly action, their application is still highly recom-
mended. Considering the fact that the volume of plastic wastes
are growing in an alarming rate on the global scale, any suggestion
to reduce these substances from the environment may be warmly
welcomed in future.
In the present study, the PET particles, a by-product of PET
shredder machines, was used to improve the mechanical proper-
ties of concrete. Therefore, by applying the results of this research
to the real world constructional practices, not only is the amount of
these long lasting by-products reduced, but also the engineering
behavior of the made concretes are strengthened. It has been pro-
ven that these particles could satisfactorily replace the fine aggre-
gates in a concrete mix design, if a proper mix design is found and
corresponding laboratory simulations are done prior to actual field
utilizations.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Samples preparation
Aggregate materials used in this study consisted of gravel, sand, and PET. Sam-
ples of these materials are shown in Fig. 1. The mineral aggregates consisted of nat-
ural rock-fragments with maximum diameter of 11.2 mm, which were sampled
from a river bed in the northwest of Tehran, Iran (Fig. 1). These fragments were
angular to almost rounded with different shapes. Most of these fragments were
made of tuff. The rest were either carbonate or igneous rocks. For concrete produc-
tion, the aggregates were used in granulated form, as the range of diameters was
defined for them (Fig. 1). Aggregates were categorized into two different classes;
coarse fragments whose particle diameters were greater than 4.9 mm and fine frag-
ments with diameters smaller than 4.9 mm. Adopting two different gradations,
plastic fragments were prepared from ground polyethylene terephthalate bottles.
In the first gradation, fragment’s diameter size was 2–4.9 mm (Pc) and in the second
gradation, fragments were finer, with their diameter size ranging from 0.05 to
2 mm (Pf) (Fig. 1). Results of the sieve analysis tests, for all concrete’s component
(i.e. aggregates and PET particles), have been shown in Fig. 2.
To prepare the samples, different ratios of the concrete fine aggregates (5%, 10%,
15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%) were replaced with PET fragments. The water-cement ratio
of 1:2 was selected. In all samples, the amount of the coarse aggregates (gravel) and
cement were constant. However, there was variations in the percentage of the fine
aggregates, some of which were replaced with PET. The plastic fragments were used
in both 2–4.9 mm (Pc) and 0.05–2 mm (Pf) size ranges, and replaced Sc and Sf sized
aggregates, respectively. Before being added to the mortar, both Pc and Pf particles
were washed up by Tehran’s tap water, graded into fine and coarse sizes (by using
wet sieving method) and finally dried up for two days in an open air with direct
sunlight exposure. The ratios of used plastic and natural materials are listed in
Table 1. To produce the concrete specimens, the natural aggregates were saturated;
they were then given some time to lose their unabsorbed water content. After a
short while, the surfaces of the aggregates were almost dry, but they were still
internally saturated. In this stage, the mixing process started. In all the concrete
production processes, no lubricants were applied.
2.2. Laboratory tests
To conduct unconfined compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, fresh and
dry density measurement, and ultra sound velocity tests, the specimens were pre-
pared in cylindrical form. Then, the cylindrical concrete specimens, aged 3, 14, and
28 days, were tested for the above mentioned experiments. Beam and disc-shaped
samples were also made for flexural and Brazilian tests, and these experiments
were subsequently carried out on the samples aging 3, 14, and 28 days. Cylindrical
specimens were also used to measure dry density.
Ultra sound wave velocity tests were performed by PUNDIT PC 1012 which
determines ultra sound speed with an accuracy of 0.1 ls (micro second). For this
purpose, cylindrical specimens were applied (see Fig. 3a).
Unconfined compressive strength test was accomplished on cylindrical speci-
mens, whose diameters and lengths were 150 mm and 300 mm, respectively,
(Fig. 3b), and were 3, 14, and 28 days old. Following ASTM C39 standard, the test
was conducted by the use of an automatic loading machine with a maximum load
capacity of 1500 KN. The modulus of elasticity was obtained from the results of
unconfined compressive strength test. Flexural strength test was performed by
single-point method, according to ASTM C293 (samples’ dimensions were 450,
130 and 150 mm for their length, width and height, respectively). The California
bearing ratio test was used to load on the specimens (Fig. 3c). The Brazilian test
was carried out on disc-shaped samples by a non-automatic machine with a max-
imum load capacity of 1000 KN, according to ASTM D3967 (Fig. 3d). The diameter
and thickness (length) of the Brazilian test samples were 100 and 50 mm, respec-
tively. The detailed information of test values measured for samples with different
curing ages are represented in Table 2.
3. Results and discussion
The results of fresh and dry density measurements showed that
adding plastic fragments to concrete mixture decreased both fresh
and dry densities of concrete. The maximum loss of density was
equal to 9% and occurred in the samples which contained 30% of
plastic fragments (Fig. 4a). On the other hand, an increase at con-
crete curing age augmented the value of the dry density of the con-
crete (Fig. 4b). The decline in density can contribute to the
production of lightweight concrete. If this concrete is used in dif-
 A.M. Azhdarpour et al. / Construction and Building Materials 109 (2016) 55–62 57

Fig. 1. Samples of materials and waste bottles used in the mix design; G (gravel), Sc (coarse sediment), Sf (fine sediment), Pc (coarse plastic particles) and Pf (fine plastic
particles).

Fig. 2. Sieve analysis test results.

Table 1
The ratios of the plastic and natural material used.

Mix Components Gravel (Kg) Sand (Kg) PET (Kg) Cement Total weight of
design Type Sc Sf Pc Pf (Kg) solid components
name PET sub. % (Kg)
P0 0 25.20 18.90 6.30 0 0 10.08 60.48
P5 5 25.20 18.59 5.36 0.32 0.95 10.08 60.48
P10 10 25.20 18.27 4.41 0.63 1.89 10.08 60.48
P15 15 25.20 17.96 3.46 0.95 2.48 10.08 60.48
P20 20 25.20 17.64 2.25 1.26 3.78 10.08 60.48
P25 25 25.20 17.01 1.58 1.57 4.72 10.08 60.48
P30 30 25.20 16.28 0.63 1.89 5.67 10.08 60.48
Density (g/cm3) 2.72 2.71 2.76 1.38 1.38 3.08 ---
1 3 1
Weight ratios ≅ = = ---
5 1 2
Weight of each component C W
for producing 1 ton of P10 ---
mortar (Kg) 385 279 67 10 29 154 77
58 A.M. Azhdarpour et al. / Construction and Building Materials 109 (2016) 55–62

Fig. 3. (a) The test of speed of ultra sound transmission in cylindrical specimens, (b) failure in samples cured for 14 days under uniaxial compressive test, with different PET
contents (c) the samples, after flexural strength testing, and the failure mode of them, (d) the disc-shaped samples at the Brazilian test.

ferent parts of the structures, it might reduce damages resulting
from the collapse of structures during a sudden shrinkage or natu-
ral stress resulting from an earthquake.
As the amount of aggregate replaced with PET increased, the
registered speed of ultra sound in concrete declined. Such a behav-
ior can be attributed to differences in the speed of ultra sound
pulses in plastic fragments and concrete aggregates. In addition,
since the plastic fragments had a sheet-shaped structure, they
acted as the refractive boundary for ultra sound pulses (Fig. 4c).
As shown in Fig. 4c, there is a direct relation between concrete’s
curing age and the ultra sound velocity; however, the trends show
that the most considerable increase in ultra sound velocity occurs
in the first two weeks of curing. This might be attributed to either
the higher rate of pozzolanic reactions or the action of hydration
processes [23] during this time. The results of unconfined com-
pressive strength test on concrete samples (shown in Fig. 4d)
demonstrate that substituting plastic fragments for concrete
aggregates (putting plastic fragments in the aggregate and cement)
changes the physical structure and compressive strength of con-
crete. These changes were a function of the percentage of aggre-
gates superseded by plastic fragments. In the low percentages of
aggregate substitution, compressive strength of concrete boosted.
More precisely, by replacing 5% and 10% of the concrete aggregates
with plastic fragments, the compressive strengths of produced
concrete were respectively 39% and 7.6% higher than normal that
of normal concrete. The replacement of more than 10% of aggre-
gate, however, decreased concrete’s strength properties. Such
behavior is probably due to the presence of plastic fragments at
the starting points of failure. At these points (at the failure sur-
faces), in dealing with flexible plastic fragments, a portion of the
shear stress is converted to tensile stress which is consumed to
overcome the tensile strength of the plastic fragments. Because
of their elongated and sheet-shaped structure, plastic fragments
tolerate a part of applied stress before their separation from other
materials. In contrast, concrete aggregates are brittle and almost
spherically shaped, which make them have less strength against
applied stress or be separated from the surrounding cement before
the failure.
In contrast, increasing the presence of plastic fragments at the
points of failure had a declining effect on the compressive strength
of concrete. The cohesion between mixed materials tends to
decrease due to the flat shaped and smooth surface of the plastic
fragments. On the other hand, pore spaces on the aggregates sur-
faces provided the absorption condition of water and cement.
 A.M. Azhdarpour et al. / Construction and Building Materials 109 (2016) 55–62 59

Table 2
detailed information of tests’ numbers, values and standard deviations.
Test type Compressive Tensile strength Flexural strength Ultra sound
Curing age strength (MPa) (MPa) (MPa) Velocity (m/s)
PET Std. Std. Std. Std.
Average Average Average Average
replacement dev. dev. dev. dev.
0% 19.0 1.0 2.2 0.28 3.0 0.14 4189 2.83

5% 21.0 1.0 3.5 1.13 3.5 0.64 4115 35.36

10% 17.0 1.0 2.3 0.28 2.9 0.07 4000 45.25

rd
3 day 15% 14.0 1.0 1,7 0.14 1.9 0.14 3621 26.87

20% 13.0 1.0 1.6 0.14 1.8 0.14 3589 31.11

25% 12.0 1.0 1.5 0.14 1.2 0.14 3315 22.63

30% 9.0 1.0 1.0 0.28 1.0 0.17 3118 33.49

0% 21.0 1.0 2.3 0.28 4.0 0.28 4415 21.21

5% 32.0 1.0 2.9 0.14 4.9 0.28 4420 7.07

10% 31.0 1.0 2.8 0.00 4.8 0.42 4100 2.83

th
14 day 15% 27.0 1.0 2.6 0.14 4.1 0.28 3809 19.80

20% 23.0 2.0 2.1 0.42 3.9 0.14 3651 11.31

25% 18.0 1.7 2.0 0.14 2.8 0.28 3449 14.14

30% 11.0 1.7 1.4 0.42 1.9 0.14 3300 19.80

0% 35.0 1.0 2.5 0.35 4.4 0.28 4450 42.43

5% 51.0 2.0 3.1 0.28 6.1 0.28 4219 2.83

10% 38.0 1.0 3.3 0.28 4.9 0.14 4090 9.90

28th day 15% 31.0 2.6 2.9 0.14 4.8 0.14 3830 56.57

20% 29.0 1.0 2.8 0.14 4.3 0.14 3692 11.31

25% 22.0 1.7 2.2 0.42 4.1 0.14 3593 5.66

30% 19.0 1.0 1.6 0.28 3.0 0.28 3449 39.60

Therefore, cement hydration occurred on these surfaces, a phe-
nomenon which cause clogging of the mortar components (gravel
and sand). On the contrary, the absorption of water and cement did
not take place on the surfaces of plastic fragments. This could then
be considered as a positive aspect of using PET particles in
strengthening the final concrete products.
As the plastic fragments were more flexible than aggregates, the
substitution of aggregates with PET made concrete more deform-
able and declined its elasticity modulus; hence, the produced sam-
ples had more deformation before failure. This phenomenon can be
observed in Fig. 4e. Moreover, given that the sheet-shaped frag-
ments of plastic tended to rotate and be located in the direction
perpendicular to the applied stress, they made concrete more
deformable and diminished its elasticity modulus. The modulus
of elasticity is also a function of concrete age. Based on Fig. 4e,
the modulus of elasticity’s value had a tendency to grow in the
course of time.
The stress–strain curves determined from compression tests
for the produced samples are plotted in Fig. 4f. These samples
showed different behaviors, depending on the plastic fragments
ratio. Plastic-free samples often failed explosively; however,
increasing the PET ratio made them have more deformation
before failure. For example, at the aggregate replacement ratio
of 30%, concrete showed a behavior like creep (Fig. 4f). The
results of flexural strength test indicated that when PET was
added instead of concrete aggregates, the flexural strength of
concrete could rise. This increase is a function of PET ratios
(see Fig. 4g). PET has a flexural modulus of elasticity and a tensile
strength of 2.4 GPa and 60 MPa, respectively (after [23]). The
slight increase in concrete’s flexural strength may be attributed
to the considerable tensile strength of pet particles which were
present at the starting point of failure. Accordingly, the flexural
strength of concrete decreased with increasing the amount of
PET in concrete. At low PET ratios, plastic fragments were situ-
ated at the starting points of failure and locked both sides of
these points to each other, an issue that enhanced the strength
of concrete. On the other hand, in this study, the flexural strength
of concrete went down as the amount of PET in concrete
increased. Nevertheless, in the case of higher values of PET ratio,
the strength of concrete declined owing to the accumulation of
these fragments next to each other and a reduction of cohesion
between cement and fragments. It should be noted that concrete
age also affects the flexural strength of concrete (Fig. 4g).
The results of tensile strength test proved that adding plastic
fragments (5% and 10% ratios of the concrete aggregates) to mix-
ture led to the rise of the tensile strength. Nonetheless, using
higher values of PET reduced tensile strength of concrete (see
Fig. 4h). Since the tensile strength of the plastic fragments was
higher than that of other concrete components, adding them (up
to 10%) to mixture enhanced the tensile strength of concrete. It
should be noted that since the PET cannot absorb water, cement
hydration does not occur on their surfaces. Therefore, replacing
more aggregates with PET results in the separation of plastic frag-
ments and other mortar component, thus reducing the tensile
strength of concrete. Additionally, as shown in Fig. 4h, increasing
concrete curing age augmented tensile strength.
60 A.M. Azhdarpour et al. / Construction and Building Materials 109 (2016) 55–62

Fig. 4. The effects of substituting fine aggregate with PET particles on sample’s (a) fresh density, (b) dry density, (c) ultra sound velocity, (d) compressive strength, (e) elastic
modulus, (f) stress–strain state, (g) flexural strength and (h) tensile strength.

Based on the findings of this research, the effect of substituted
PET particles on the triple strength values (i.e. compressive, Flexu-
ral and tensile strengths) could be divided into three main classes.
These classes are defined in the light of the amount of PET particles
substituting the sand aggregate: 0–5%, 5–10% and 10–30%. In the
first class, with 0–5% of substitution, all the triple strength values
considerably increased. This conclusion may contradict the results
reported by Choi et al. [8,9] and Hannawi et al. [14], while it does
represent the same data as some other researchers do [10,23]. The
main source of discrepancies among the results of various studies
 A.M. Azhdarpour et al. / Construction and Building Materials 109 (2016) 55–62
could be related to the total percentage of PET substitution with
regard to concrete’s total weight. Other minor factors leading to
such contradictory findings may be the shape and size of PET par-
ticles (e.g. mercenary, short linear fibers, circular fibers, etc.), type
of cement, water-cement ratio and so on. With respect to the sec-
ond class (i.e. substitution of 5–10% of PET), addition of PET parti-
cles still positively affects the triple values of strength. Similarly,
Rahmani et al. [23] concluded that the 10% of PET substitution is
the best value in which the compressive strength of polymer con-
crete is similar to the ordinary one, while its modulus of elasticity
decreases. In other words, this 10% of PET substitution has
increased ductility of the concrete with no negative effect on its
compressive strength. Finally, the third class of substitution (i.e.
using 10–30% of PET) had no good influence on the ultimate con-
crete products, except for augmenting its soundproofing quality.
4. Conclusion
Mix of aggregates and PET fragments in mortar is effective in
terms of the physical structure and strength of concrete. In addi-
tion, this mixture changes the behavior of concrete against applied
stress. In general, when concrete aggregates are replaced with
plastic fragments, fresh and dry density of concrete decreases,
resulting in the reduction of the weight of produced concrete.
Compressive strength of concrete went up to 39% and 7.6% by
replacing 5% and 10% of the concrete aggregates with plastic frag-
ments, respectively. Furthermore, this substitution raised the
deformability of concrete and diminished its elasticity modulus.
An increase at waste plastic ratio and curing age made samples
more deformable before failure; thus, at the aggregate replacement
ratio of 30%, concrete showed a behavior like creep. The speed of
sound decreased along with the increase of PET ratio in concrete.
It is therefore possible for engineers to produce materials (sound
insulator) which decline the transmission of acoustic waves. Add-
ing plastic fragments (5% and 10% ratios of the concrete aggre-
gates) strengthens flexural strength of concrete. However, the
substitution of more than 10% decreases flexural strength. When
PET was added in substitution of concrete aggregates (5–15%), ten-
sile strength of concrete aged 28 days went up to 26–34%, respec-
tively. Concrete curing age also affects tensile strength of concrete.
More precisely, in all ratios, tensile strength increased over the
course of time. Using plastic waste or fragments, obtained from
recycling or grinding plastic bottles, can considerably decrease
environmental pollution caused by such materials.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Tarbiat Modares University-
Tehran, Iran for providing laboratory facilities. Sincere appreciation
also goes to anonymous reviewers whose insightful comments sig-
nificantly enhanced the quality of this paper.
References
[1] C. Albano, N. Camacho, M. Hernandez, A. Matheus, A. Gutiérrez, Influence of
content and particle size of waste pet bottles on concrete behavior at different
w/c ratios, Waste Manage. 29 (2009) 2707–2716.
[2] A.A. Al-Manaseer, T.R. Dalal, Concrete containing plastic aggregates, Concr. Int.
19 (8) (1997) 47–52.
[3] R. Al-Rousan, R. Haddad, K. Al-Sa’di, Effect of sulfates on bond behavior
between carbon fiber reinforced polymer sheets and concrete, Mater. Des. 43
(2013) 237–248.
[4] D.S. Babu, G.K. Babu, T.H. Wee, Properties of lightweight expanded polystyrene
aggregate concretes containing fly ash, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (2005) 1218–1223.
[5] M. Batayneh, I. Marie, I. Asi, Use of selected waste materials in concrete mixes,
Waste Manage. 27 (12) (2007) 1870–1876.
[6] Z. Bayasi, J. Zeng, Properties of polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete, ACI
Mater. J. 90 (6) (1993) 605–610.
61
[7] J.O. Byung-Wan, P. Seung-Kook, K. Cheol-Hwan, Mechanical properties of
polyester polymer concrete using recycled polyethylene terephthalate, ACI
Struct. J. 103 (2) (2006) 219–225.
[8] Y.W. Choi, D.J. Moon, J.S. Chumg, S.K. Cho, Effects of waste PET bottles
aggregate on the properties of concrete, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (2005) 776–781.
[9] Y.W. Choi, D.J. Moon, Y.J. Kim, M. Lachemi, Characteristics of mortar and
concrete containing fine aggregate manufactured from recycled waste
polyethylene terephthalate bottles, Constr. Build. Mater. 23 (8) (2009) 2829–
2835.
[10] D. Foti, Use of recycled waste pet bottles fibers for the reinforcement of
concrete, Compos. Struct. 96 (2013) 396–404.
[11] M. Frigione, Recycling of PET bottles as fine aggregate in concrete, Waste
Manage. 30 (2010) 1101–1106.
[12] E. Ganjian, M. Khorami, A.A. Maghsoudi, Scrap-tyre-rubber replacement for
aggregate and filler in concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 23 (5) (2009) 1828–1836.
[13] Z. Ge, H. Yue, R. Sun, Properties of mortar produced with recycled clay brick
aggregate and PET, Constr. Build. Mater. 93 (2015) 851–856.
[14] K. Hannawi, S. Kamali-Bernard, W. Prince, Physical and mechanical properties
of mortars containing PET and PC waste aggregates, Waste Manage. 30 (11)
(2010) 2312–2320.
[15] Z.Z. Ismail, E.A. Al-Hashmie, Assessing the recycling potential of industrial
wastewater to replace fresh water in concrete mixes: application of polyvinyl
acetate resin wastewater, J. Cleaner Prod. 19 (2011) 197–203.
[16] A. Kilic, C.D. Atis, E. Yasar, F. Ozcan, High strength lightweight concrete made
with scoria aggregate containing mineral admixtures, Cem. Concr. Res. 33 (10)
(2003) 1595–1599.
[17] S.B. Kim, N.H. Yi, H.Y. Kim, J.-H.J. Kim, Y.-C. Song, Material and structural
performance evaluation of recycled PET fiber reinforced concrete, Cem. Concr.
Compos. 32 (2013) 232–240.
[18] H. Koide, M. Tomon, T. Sasaki, Investigation of the use of waste plastic as an
aggregate for lightweight concrete. Sustainable concrete construction, in:
Proceeding of the International Conference held at the University of Dundee,
Scotland, UK, 2002, pp. 177–186.
[19] G. Li, S.S. Pang, S.I. Ibekwe, FRP tube encased rubberized concrete cylinders,
Mater. Struct. 44 (1) (2011) 233–243.
[20] G. Martínez-Barrera, E. Vigueras-Santiago, M. Martínez-López, M.C.S. Ribeiro,
A.J.M. Ferreira, W. Brostow, Luffa fibers and gamma radiation as improvement
tools of polymer concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 47 (2013) 86–91.
[21] O.Y. Marzouk, R.M. Dheilly, M. Queneudec, Valorization of post-consumer
waste plastic in cementitious concrete composites, Waste Manage. 27 (2007)
310–318.
[22] A. Neramitkornburi, S. Horpibulsuk, S.L. Shen, A. Chinkulkijniwat, A. Arulrajah,
M. Miri Disfani, Durability against wetting–drying cycles of sustainable
Lightweight Cellular Cemented construction material comprising clay and fly
ash wastes, Constr. Build. Mater. 77 (2015) 41–49.
[23] E. Rahmani, M. Dehestani, M.H.A. Beygi, H. Allahyari, I.M. Nikbin, On the
mechanical properties of concrete containing waste PET particles, Constr.
Build. Mater. 47 (2013) 1302–1308.
[24] K.S. Rebeiz, Time-temperature properties of polymer concrete using recycled
PET, Cem. Concr. Compos. 17 (1995) 119–124.
[25] J.M.L. Reis, E.P. Carneiro, Evaluation of PET waste aggregates in polymer
mortars, Constr. Build. Mater. 27 (2012) 107–111.
[26] A. Sadrmomtazi, S. Dolati-Milehsara, O. Lotfi-Omran, A. Sadeghi-Nik, The
combined effects of waste PET particles and pozzolanic materials on the
properties of self-compacting concrete, J. Cleaner Prod. 112 (4) (2016) 2363–
2373.
[27] M. Sahmaran, H.A. Christianto, I.Ö. Yaman, The effect of chemical admixtures
and mineral additives on the properties of self-compacting mortars, Cement
Concrete Comp. 28 (2006) 432–440.
[28] A. Sales, S.A. Lima, Use of Brazilian sugarcane bagasse ash in concrete as sand
replacement, Waste Manage. 30 (2010) 1114–1122.
[29] A. Semiha, C.D. Atis, K. Akcaozoglu, An investigation on the use of shredded
waste PET bottles as aggregate in lightweight concrete, Waste Manage. 30
(2010) 285–290.
[30] Y.-N. Sheen, H.-Y. Wang, T.-H. Sun, Properties of green concrete containing
stainless steel oxidizing slag resource materials, Constr. Build. Mater. 50
(2014) 22–27.
[31] X. Shu, B. Huang, Recycling of waste tire rubber in asphalt and Portland cement
concrete: An overview, Constr. Build. Mater. 67 (2014) 217–224.
[32] R. Siddique, Compressive strength, water absorption, sorptivity, abrasion
resistance and permeability of self-compacting concrete containing coal
bottom ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 47 (2013) 1444–1450.
[33] R. Siddique, J. Khatib, I. Kaur, Use of recycled plastic in concrete: A review,
Waste Manage. 28 (2008) 1835–1852.
[34] M. Singh, R. Siddique, Strength properties and micro-structural properties of
concrete containing coal bottom ash as partial replacement of fine aggregate,
Constr. Build. Mater. 50 (2014) 246–256.
[35] P. Soroushian, J. Plasencia, S. Ravanbakhsh, Assessment of reinforcing effects
of recycled plastic and paper in concrete, ACI Mater. J. 100 (3) (2003) 203–
207.
[36] G. Sua-iam, N. Makul, Use of increasing amounts of bagasse ash waste to
produce self-compacting concrete by adding limestone powder waste, J.
Cleaner Prod. 57 (2013) 308–319.
[37] K.G. Tonet, J.P. Gorninski, Polymer concrete with recycled PET: The influence of
the addition of industrial waste on flammability, Constr. Build. Mater. 40
(2013) 378–389.
62 A.M. Azhdarpour et al. / Construction and Building Materials 109 (2016) 55–62
[38] I.B. Topcu, T. Uygunoglu, Properties of autoclaved lightweight aggregate
concrete, Build. Environ. 42 (12) (2007) 4108–4116.
[39] J. Torkaman, A. Ashori, A. Sadr Momtazi, Using wood fiber waste, rice husk ash,
and limestone powder waste as cement replacement materials for lightweight
concrete blocks, Constr. Build. Mater. 50 (2014) 432–436.
[40] I. Turkmen, Influence of different curing conditions on the physical and
mechanical properties of concretes with admixtures of silica fume and blast
furnace slag, Mate. Lett. 57 (29) (2003) 4560–4569.
[41] Y. Wang, Fiber and textile waste utilization, Waste Biomass Valorization 1 (1)
(2010) 135–143.
[42] F. Welle, Twenty years of PET bottle to bottle recycling – an overview, Resour.
Conserv. Recycl. 55 (2011) 865–875.
[43] E. Yasar, C.D. Atis, A. Kilic, H. Gulsen, Strength properties of lightweight
concrete made with basaltic pumice and fly ash, Mater. Lett. 57 (2003) 2267–
2270.
[44] O. Youssf, M.A. ElGawady, J.E. Mills, X. Ma, An experimental investigation of
crumb rubber concrete confined by fiber reinforced polymer tubes, Constr.
Build. Mater. 53 (2014) 522–532.
[45] Yun-Wang Choia, Dae-Joong Moonb, Jee-Seung Chungc, Sun-Kyu Cho, Effects
of waste PET bottles aggregate on the properties of concrete, Cem. Concr. Res.
35 (2005) 776–781.
[46] B.J. Zhan, C.S. Poon, Study on feasibility of reutilizing textile effluent sludge for
producing concrete blocks, J. Cleaner Prod. 101 (2015) 174–179.