Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
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Cleaner Materials
journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/cleaner-materials
Recycling of waste HDPE and PP plastic in preparation of plastic brick and
its mechanical properties
Prathik Kulkarni a, *, Vikas Ravekar a, P. Rama Rao b, Sahil Waigokar a, Sanket Hingankar a
a
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Bajaj Institute of Technology, Wardha, India
Research Scholar, Pondicherry Technological University, Puducherry, India
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Keywords:
Plastic brick
Thermoplastic
Physical recycling
HDPE and PP
Plastic brick wall
Brick is a primary building material that is often utilized in the construction of masonry. Conventionally, brick is
made up of dried clay and recently many studies have focused on the use of waste materials as an alternate
material to a conventional brick. In the present study thermoplastics like High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and
Polypropylene (PP) are used to manufacture the plastic brick using the physical recycling method. Here, waste
plastic from Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is collected, segregated, cleaned, and
melted to manufacture a 190 × 90 × 90 mm modular sized HDPE and PP brick according to IS 1077:1992. In the
first phase of work, standard tests are performed to study the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the
plastic brick. In the next phase, a 500 × 110 × 500 mm wall is constructed and the results of the plastic brick wall
are compared with a conventional brick wall. The wall was tested using a universal testing machine (UTM) as per
IS 1905:1987. It was interesting to observe that the HDPE and PP brick gave a compressive strength of 11.19 N/
mm2 and 10.02 N/mm2 which were in good agreement with first-class conventional brick which gave a
compressive strength of 10.5 N/mm2. While it is also worth noting that HDPE brick had the highest compressive
strength. The ultimate load for the plastic brick wall was 197.50 KN with a shear failure at a 45◦ , while the
conventional brick wall experienced a vertical failure at 153.95 KN load. A fire-resistance test on a plastic brick
wall and a conventional brick wall was performed to evaluate if the specifications of Nation Building Code
(2005): Part 4: Table 1 were met. It was observed that the plastic brick wall even after 30 min of heating at 4
corners and centre, showed a better temperature difference as compared to the conventional brick wall. The
study initiates a new line of research in sustainable plastic waste management.
1. Introduction
Brick is a vital building material that is widely utilized throughout
the world. It is one of the most demanding masonry units. India, along
with China and Spain, is the leading brick manufacturing country, with
an annual production rate of more than 240 billion bricks (MuheiseAralia and Pavia, 2021). India produces about a 3.5 million tons of waste
plastic every year which has almost doubled in the last five years. The
production of waste plastic adversely affects our ecosystem and even it is
linked with air pollution. Due to this high rate of production, it was
brought to investigate and scrutinize the feasibility of using waste plastic
as an alternative for manufacturing the brick. As they will be benefiting
the environment as well as maintaining the requirements of materials
and their standards. As a result, numerous attempts have been made to
incorporate waste into the production of bricks, and their physical and
mechanical properties have been investigated. In previous research, the
replacement and addition have been done in the brick with the direct
composition of different raw materials like rice husk or rice husk ash
(Sutas et al., 2012), grapevine twig dust and popular dust(Andiç-Çakır
et al., 2021), slate tailing, fly ash, and OPC(Wang et al., 2021); fly ash
and lime(Çiçek and Çinçin, 2015), cigarettes buds(Kadir and Mohajer­
ani, 2015), crushed glass(Chidiac and Federico, 2007; Demir, 2009),
clay, sawdust, marble(Eliche-Quesada et al., 2012), and sugarcane
bagasse ash(Faria et al., 2012).
In addition to the above-mentioned materials, Plastics are widely
employed in the production of bricks. The use of thermoplastic waste in
the production of bricks is the most effective alternative for reducing
plastic waste, saving raw materials, and enhancing the properties of
bricks. Plastics are preferred over other materials due to their light­
weight, low cost, low density, good stability, and durability, ability to be
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: prathik.kulkarni@bitwardha.ac.in (P. Kulkarni).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clema.2022.100113
Received 29 April 2022; Received in revised form 23 June 2022; Accepted 29 June 2022
Available online 2 July 2022
2772-3976/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/).
P. Kulkarni et al.
Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
easily molded, good impact resistance, and mechanical properties
(Jahidul Islam and Shahjalal, 2021; Banerjee et al., 2014; Ahmad et al.,
2017) . M.K. Mondal et al.(Mondal et al., 2019) conducted an experi­
mental study on three batches of blocks composed of polycarbonate (RIC
7), polystyrene (RIC 6), and mixed thermoplastics, sand with fly ash, and
OPC. Whereas mixed thermoplastics are 0–10% by weight and sand is
60–70% by weight. The test results suggest that the brick containing
10% waste plastics has a compressive strength of 17 MPa and high
thermal resistance. Although these bricks are lightweight, the density is
significantly lower. Isaac I. Akinwumi et al.(Akinwumi et al., 2019)
manufactured compressed earth brick with the use of stabilized soil and
shredded waste plastic varying in percentages and by the size of particles
(less than 6.3 mm and more than 9.6 mm). The results showed that
compressed earth brick (CEB) incorporating shredded waste plastic (1%
by weight and particle size <6.3 mm) resulted in a 50% rise in erosion
rate (the lowest among them) and a 244.4% increase in compressive
strength compared to brick containing no plastic (0.45 MPa). These
earth bricks can be used in residential and commercial buildings.
In the construction industry Polyethylene (PET) and Polypropylene
(PP) plastics are frequently employed. PET plastic brick in composition
with foundry sand(Aneke and Shabangu, 2021)and recycled glass
granules(Frank Ikechukwu and Shabangu, 2021) respectively had 2.5
and 3 times higher compressive strength, and the temperature required
to manufacture those bricks was approximately 5 times lower than burnt
clay brick. The bricks with a higher percentage of PET i.e., 5% gave
many effective results when compared with conventional fire clay
bricks, but beyond 5% replacement of PET in fire clay bricks, a reduction
in compressive strength was observed (Akinyele et al., 2020a,b).
Many experimental studies have been undertaken on a brick ma­
sonry wall and masonry prisms of varied constituent materials, bonds,
dimensions, and height to thickness (h/t) ratio. The physical and me­
chanical characteristics of brick masonry units, as well as their masonry
with lime mortar joints, are determined(Drougkas et al., 2016; Bompa
and Elghazouli, 2020). Nassif Nazeer Thaickavil et al.(Thaickavil and
Thomas, 2018)proposed a masonry model with two different types of
bricks: cement stabilized pressed earth brick (B1) and local burnt clay
brick (B2). Cement mortar ratios of different proportions were used to
make masonry prisms. They assessed the compressive strength of the
masonry prism and recorded the cracking pattern by performing a lab­
oratory test on 192 masonry prism specimens. The model proposed by
Thaickavil et al.(Thaickavil and Thomas, 2018) accommodates a wide
range of mortar (0.3–52.6 MPa) and masonry unit strength (3.5–127
MPa) in his study. Kumavat et al.(Kumavat, 2016) conducted experi­
mental research on the mechanical properties and compressive strength
of clay brick masonry prisms using mortar composed of fine aggregate
with clay brick waste (in percentage proposition) as a replacement for
sand. In that, the cement mortar of 1:4 and a 20% replacement of clay
brick waste gave higher results in compressive strength. They found that
due to this replacement compressive strength of the masonry prism was
found to be more as compared to standard masonry prism. The
compressive strength of brick and mortar is the primary factor influ­
encing the compressive strength of masonry prism, since the strength of
masonry increases as the strength of brick and mortar increases (Nau­
man Azhar and Ali Qureshi, 2020; Francis et al., 2017; Singh and
Munjal, 2017). Gumaste et al. (2007) conduct experimental research on
strength, elastic properties, and failure pattern of brick masonry prism
and Wallette under axial compression. The masonry prism is constructed
with varying mortar ratios and designed following IS 1905:1987 speci­
fications. Ajith Thamboo and Dhanasekar (2019)compared the behavior
of a prism to a cube and found that the prism provides more strength
than a cube. Aside from constructing brick and analyzing its mechanical
properties, numerical simulation and computerized modeling of brick
masonry are also done using a finite element (FE) program (Srinivas and
Sasmal, 2016; Furtmüller and Adam, 2011). The cracking pattern,
crushing, failure of the wall, deformation by mesh application, and
maximum principal strain are all shown in the FE analysis. The results
Table 1
Physical and mechanical properties of HDPE and PP (Maddah, 2016; Kusuktham
and Teeranachaideekul, 2014).
Property
HDPE
PP
Melting point (◦ C)
Flashpoint (◦ C)
Density (g/cm3)
Specific gravity
Tensile Strength (MPa)
Elongation (%)
Water absorption (%)
110–140
greater than 300
0.90–1.00
0.90–1.00
19–39
180–1000
<0.05
160–166
greater than 300
0.91–0.94
0.9–1.00
22–34
3–700
0.01
obtained using FE analysis were compared with the theoretical values
and it was observed that FE analysis gave much accurate results.
Many researchers have partially replaced waste plastic to improve
the mechanical and durability properties of brick, but no study is carried
out on the complete (100%) replacement of HDPE and PP plastic in the
preparation of brick. As HDPE and PP do not emit harmful gases when
melted, so the melting process was carried out to prepare 19 × 9 × 9 cm
modular brick. The physical, durability, and mechanical properties of
plastic brick and first-class (designation-10) red clay brick which is
termed conventional brick are examined. Additionally, an experimental
study and comparison of plastic brick walls with the conventional brick
wall are conducted in accordance with its compressive strength and fire
resistance test. All the tests were performed according to Indian Stan­
dard codes. This research contributes to the use of plastic waste (HDPE
and PP) in the manufacture of bricks, which is the most effective method
for reducing plastic waste, conserving raw materials, and enhancing the
properties of bricks.
2. Materials and methodology
2.1. Materials
The thermoplastics, which include High-Density Polyethylene
(HDPE) and Polypropylene (PP), were used in this research for
manufacturing the plastic bricks. PP plastics are the most often used
thermoplastics as they are lightweight and easily mouldable (Maddah,
2016), whilst HDPE is commonly recyclable but decomposition time is
too long (almost 100 years (Material Safety Data Sheet: High Density
Polyethylene), therefore those plastics were implemented. Furthermore,
according to the Material safety data sheet (Material Safety Data Sheet:
High Density Polyethylene; Material Safety Data Sheet: Polypropylene
(PP) Homopolymer, HDPE and PP have properties such as low toxicity,
non-hazardous, and safe use. The physical, durability, and mechanical
properties of HDPE and PP are tabulated in Table 1.
The reddish-brown local river sand (as fine aggregate) with a particle
size of less than 4.75 mm was collected from the Bajaj Institute of
Technology in Wardha. Sand has a specific gravity of 2.65, a bulk den­
sity of 1595 kg/m3, and a fineness modulus of 2.88. As a binding ma­
terial, ordinary Portland cement (OPC) of 43 grade is used. Normal tap
water with a pH value of 7.0 is used for making masonry mortar.
2.2. Methodology
A physical (mechanical) recycling method is involved while
manufacturing plastic bricks (Leng et al., 2018). Initially, we collected
discarded plastic materials of High-density Polyethylene (HDPE) and
Polypropylene (PP) from Maharashtra Industrial Development Corpo­
ration (MIDC) Wardha, Maharashtra, India. However, to make these
waste plastics appropriate for brick manufacturing, undesired elements
are then removed from the HDPE and PP plastics. The collected plastic
materials are then individually chopped into 10–20 mm size using a
plastic crusher machine, as shown in Fig. 1(a). Now, this chopped plastic
material is placed in a container as shown in Fig. 1(b) and heated to
230 ◦ C (Temperature was measured using an infrared thermometer)
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P. Kulkarni et al.
Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
Fig. 1. The manufacturing process of Plastic brick. (a) Chopped plastic, (b) Melting, (c) Designed mold, (d) Plastic brick.
Fig. 2. (a) Soundness Test (b) Hardness test.
Fig. 3. (a) Plastic brick wall (b) Painting on plastic brick wall.
which is above the melting point of HDPE and PP individually. Once the
plastic has been converted into paste form, it is poured into molds of the
standard-modular brick size of dimension 190 × 90 × 90 mm in
accordance with IS 1077:1992, as shown in Fig. 1(c). Then the molten
plastic paste is properly compacted in the mold during filling to avoid
any pores in the brick. After 24 h, the plastic brick is removed from the
mold as shown in Fig. 1(d) and tested afterward.
properties were conducted on plastic and conventional bricks, Plastic
and conventional brick wall was constructed according to IS 1905: 1987
to determine the crack pattern and load-carrying capacity of the plastic
brick wall (HDPE) (500 × 110 × 500 mm) with a conventional wall
(500 × 110 × 500 mm) as HDPE brick carries more compressive strength
than PP brick, fire resistance test of plastic brick wall and a conventional
brick wall was carried out according to Table 1 in Part 4 of SP 7: Group 1
(2005): National Building Code. The soundness test and hardness test
are as shown in Fig. 2a and 2b. The plastering was a quite challenging
job on a plastic brick wall, so grooves were made on all the surfaces of
the plastic brick to have a good bond between cement mortar (1:3 (IS
1661 (1972)) and brick as shown in Fig. 3a and b.
2.3. Experimental program
In the present study, Physical (Soundness, Efflorescence, Hardness,
Impact, and Structure) and mechanical (Compression strength)
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Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
includes certain physical and durability properties of HDPE, PP, and
conventional brick.
Table 2
Properties of HDPE and PP brick.
Parameters
HDPE brick
PP brick
Conventional brick
Weight (kg)
Dry density (kg/m3)
Specific gravity
Water absorption (%)
Efflorescence
1.330
864.197
0.866
0.752
Nil
1.350
877.192
0.879
0.370
Nil
2.920
1897.335
1.903
12
Slight
3.2. Compressive strength test on plastic brick and conventional brick
HDPE, PP, and conventional brick specimens were tested under the
universal testing (AIMIL) machine of capacity 1000 kN. The ultimate
load carried by HDPE brick is 191.35 kN at a displacement of 18.40 mm,
whereas PP brick carries 171.35 kN at a displacement of 15.30 mm. In
addition, the conventional brick carries an ultimate load of 178.95 kN at
a displacement of 13.50 mm. The Load vs Displacement graph of brick
specimens is obtained through computerized UTM and illustrated in
Fig. 4(a). The failure pattern of plastic brick was observed, with bricks
forming vertical cracks in the tension zone and splitting the edges.
Similarly, conventional brick is crushed completely. However, HDPE
brick has better compressive strength than PP brick and is significantly
greater than conventional brick (First class) it was used in the prepa­
ration of plastic brick walls. HDPE brick and PP brick have 11.19 N/mm2
and 10.02 N/mm2 compressive strength respectively. Similarly con­
ventional brick has 10.50 N/mm2 compressive strength as shown in
Fig. 4(b).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Physical properties of plastic brick
Plastic brick appears to be greyish-black in color and free of cracks.
The edges of plastic bricks are not precisely sharp. The weights of HDPE
and PP bricks were found to be 1.33 kg and 1.35 kg, respectively. The
brick’s density is calculated as a ratio of dry weight to volume (Ornam
et al., 2017).
A water absorption test had carried out on HDPE and PP plastic
bricks according to IS 3495 (Part 2): 2019. We observed that the water
absorption capacity of plastic brick is drastically lower than that of
conventional brick. After the water absorption test, an efflorescence test
is performed on both types of plastic bricks, to find the salt contents
available in the HDPE and PP plastic in accordance with IS 3495 (Part
3): 2019. We investigated the surfaces of brick for two evaporation cy­
cles and discovered that there are no perceptible changes on the satu­
rated surface of the brick. The results are tabulated in Table 2, which
3.3. Compressive strength test on plastic brick and conventional brick wall
A plastic brick wall is tested on a computerized Universal testing
machine (UTM) with a capability of 1000 kN, and a load is applied to the
wall. The results revealed that loading up to 16 kN caused no
displacement on the specimen. However, the plastic brick wall bears an
Fig. 4. (a) Load vs Displacement graph of brick specimens (b) Compressive strength of brick specimens.
Fig. 5. (a) Load vs Displacement graph of brick wall specimens and (b) Cracking pattern on the plastic brick wall.
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Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
masonry is affected by the strength of the brick and mortar used in the
brickwork (Venkatesh, 2010). Furthermore, the compressive strength of
brick masonry (8.5 MPa) is less than the masonry unit strength (10.5
MPa) (Ludovikus Sugeng Wijanto, 2007). The same graph pattern was
even observed in our study, individual bricks carry higher strength than
the brick masonry.
Table 3
Properties of the brick wall.
Parameters
Plastic brick
wall
Conventional
brick wall
Dimensions: b × t × h (mm)
500 × 110 ×
500 mm
47.530
1728.363
3.59
3.48
500 × 110 × 500
mm
104.353
3794.654
2.79
2.70
28.95
25.71
Weight (kg/m)
Density (kg/m3)
Compressive strength (N/mm2)
Corrected Compressive strength: after
applying a correction factor of 0.97 (N/
mm2)
Masonry efficiency (%)
3.4. Fire resistance test on plastic brick and conventional brick wall
The plastic itself is combustible at high temperatures. In the event of
a fire, the cement sand mortar with burnt clay bricks may be able to
resist the temperature that the plastic brick could not. So, in order to
determine the fire resistance of plastic brick and conventional brick
walls, we applied continuous heat to the plastered walls’ faces according
to Nation Building Code (2005): Part 4: Table 1.
The face of the walls has been continuously heated by a torch of gas
wielding at a temperature of around 1000–1200 ◦ C and the temperature
on both sides of the wall was measured using a digital thermometer (TP101). The test result reveals that after 30 min, the structural integrity of
plastic brick increased burning as illustrated in Fig. 6(a). The exact rear
unexposed area of the plastic brick wall was at a normal temperature of
about 32 ◦ C, which the bare hand could touch, while the edge of this
brick wall has a temperature of 78 ◦ C. Cracks form on the face of heataffected surfaces as shown in Fig. 6(b).
The conventional brick wall is tested in the same way as the plastic
brick wall, with a constant rate of temperature and time as shown in
Fig. 7(a). After 30 min of constant heating, the structural integrity of the
conventional brick is nearly identical, with a tiny cracks pattern and
some roughness in the texture of that exposed surface as shown in Fig. 7
(b). In this case, heat transfers well to the rear side of the wall having a
temperature of 113 ◦ C after 30 min. The temperature at the edges of
conventional brick was 173 ◦ C. As a result, we observed that using a
digital thermometer (TP-101), in the case of a plastic brick wall, bricks
burned while heat did not transmit very well through the wall. However,
in a conventional brick wall, heat is transferred more evenly throughout
ultimate load of 197.5 kN at a displacement of 27.50 mm on the wall, as
shown in Fig. 5(a). However, according to IS 1905:1987, the correction
factor for the height to thickness (h/t) ratio is multiplied by the exper­
imental compressive strength value obtained. The height to thickness
(h/t) ratio is 4.54, and the correction factor for the brickwork specimen
according to interpolation is 0.97 and the corrected or normalized
compressive strength of the wall is then calculated. The normalized
masonry efficiency is also calculated as the ratio of normalized or cor­
rected compressive strength to brick strength (Gumaste et al., 2007).
The plastic brick wall fails due to the crushing of bricks and spalling of
mortar cover and de-bonding between the bricks. Shear failure was
observed in the wall at 45◦ angle as shown in Fig. 5(b).
The conventional brick wall took a deflection from 21.80 kN, and the
first crack was observed at 98.25 kN loading. The maximum load carried
by the wall is 153.95 kN, as shown in Fig. 5(a). The compressive strength
of a conventional brick wall was calculated, and the correction factor of
0.97 was multiplied by the experimental compressive strength according
to IS 1905:1987. Hence the experimental compressive strength data for
the plastic brick wall and the conventional brick wall is given in Table. 3.
The wall was deflected by an amount of 18.70 mm with vertical cracks
along with their height.
Previous research has shown that the compressive strength of brick
Fig. 6. Heat on Plastic brick wall. (a) Burning of brick and (b) Crack on the face of a wall.
Fig. 7. Heat on Red clay brick wall. (a) Applied heat and (b) Crack and Roughness on the face of a wall.
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4. Conclusion
The research and experimental work attempted to reduce the in­
tensity of plastic and its disposal problem by reusing discarded plastic
waste to make High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Polypropylene
(PP) plastic bricks. These bricks have several advantages over a con­
ventional brick of standard brick. In our study, plastic brick is entirely
made from discarded plastic waste without using water, HDPE and PP
bricks have a water absorption capacity of 0.75% and 0.37% respec­
tively. Furthermore, because this brick does not absorb water, it can be
used in constructions where water leakage is a major issue. The dead
weight of bricks in the structure can be reduced by 55% when compared
with a conventional brick.
The compressive strength of HDPE plastic brick is 14.6% higher than
conventional brick. The ultimate load carried by HDPE plastic brick wall
is 197.5 kN, while a conventional brick wall of the same dimensions
carries 153.95 kN. As a result, we can use the HDPE plastic brick for
load-bearing structures. The plastic brick wall has poor bond strength
between bricks and mortar, but it can be enhanced by introducing frog
or rough texture to the surfaces of the bricks.
Plastic brick as a masonry wall will be the ideal choice for civil
infrastructure construction or in high-rise buildings since it is light­
weight, has a good load-bearing capacity, and is non-absorbent. As a
result, it can minimize the burden of building construction.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
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Further Reading
IS 1905 (1987): Code of Practice for Structural use of. Unreinforced Masonry.
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P. Kulkarni et al.
Cleaner Materials 5 (2022) 100113
National Building Code of India, 2005.
IS 1661, 1972 IS 1661 (1972): Code of Practice for Application of Cement and CementLime Plaster Finishes.
IS 3495, 2019 IS 3495 (2019) Methods of tests of Burnt Clay Building Bricks, Part-2:
Determination of Water Absorption, Part-3: Determination of Efflorescence.
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