Plastic wastes to pavement blocks: A signifcant alternative way to reducing plastic wastes generation and accumulation in Ghana

Abstract

This study explored the conversion of plastic wastes into pavement blocks in Ghana. The physical and chemical properties of the pit sand, sea sand, plastic wastes, and pavement block were determined. The FTIR identified Quartz and Kaoline minerals as the main components of the sand samples, whereas those of the plastic wastes were polyethylene and polypropylene. The SEM showed that the plastic-pit sand pavement block (PPPB) had fibrous surface with smaller pore volume and grain size than the plastic-sea sand pavement block (PSPB). At 20% plastic composition, the water absorptivity of PPPB and PSPB maximized at 3.98% and 4.60%, respectively. Larger quantity of plastic decreased the block water absorptivity but improved the compressive strength. The maximum compressive strengths of the PPPB and PSPB were 36.96 N/mm2 and 27.81 N/mm2, respectively. The maximum tensile strength of PPPB (8.2 N/mm2 ) exceeded the PSPB (6.1 N/mm2 ). Furthermore, increasing the plastic composition improved the average penetration resistance of both pavement blocks. The results suggest that converting plastic wastes into pavement blocks is feasible, and can help reduce the rapid accumulation of plastic wastes in Ghana