Sustainable Concrete with Waste Plastic and Natural Materials

Globally, concrete is the most often utilized building material. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC), made from carbonaceous raw materials at a very high temperature, is the main ingredient in concrete. This significantly contributes to global carbon emissions. United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) encourages decarbonization of building and construction industries by implementing alternative sustainable materials. Hence, there is a growing demand to use waste materials for reinforcement in concrete. Because concrete is naturally brittle, environmental factors like humidity, temperature changes, rain, etc. can cause concrete structures to fracture and contaminate them with bacteria. Despite concrete’s strength and durability, the risk of microbiological deterioration continuously puts it to the test. Sewage systems and coastal regions are ideal habitats for microbes because they are moist extremely humid and full of organic debris. These microorganisms can degrade concrete directly or cause reactions that compromise the concrete’s structural integrity through the byproducts they produce. These bacteria have the potential to accelerate the concrete’s disintegration, necessitating a large financial outlay for upkeep and restoration. The current work targets to address these issues. The objectives of this study are twofold, first is to fabricate antibacterial concrete using turmeric coating and the second is to use household plastic waste as a reinforcing material in the concrete for partial replacement of fine aggregates. The obtained results show that turmeric coating does not adversely affect the compressive strength of the concrete structures. Phase identification with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) shows that the addition of turmeric does not cause any adverse effects. The addition of turmeric leads to ~ 68% antibacterial efficacy against <i>S. aureus</i>. A current study is underway to fabricate concrete structures with waste plastic as a partial replacement for the fine aggregates in the concrete. To successfully carry out this aim, one in-house plastic cutter is developed in our lab followed by the collection of household plastic bottles and cutting them into short strips. These will be used as a reinforcing material into the concrete.