Early Strength Properties of Concrete Incorporating Plastic Fibers Derived from Waste Plastic Bags

Malaysia alone generates approximately 30,000 tons of rubbish every day containing around 13% of solid plastic waste. Besides conventional recycling and landfilling, an alternative disposal of this waste is required for sustainable development. Adding plastic waste as a fiber in concrete would play an important role to reduce plastic waste. This study investigates the 7 days test results of properties of concrete containing plastic fibers derived from waste bags. In this study, polyethylene waste plastic bags were manually cut into fibers of two different lengths (5–12 mm and 20–35 mm). Nine concrete mixtures were prepared with quantities of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4% of both types of plastic fibers. Workability, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength were tested at 7 days and compared with conventional concrete. The addition of plastic fibers significantly improved concrete properties. Research results showed that depending on quantity of plastic fibers, concrete may achieve different strengths. The test results proved that the utilization of plastic fibers derived from waste plastic bags in concrete is possible and it can improve the properties of concrete.