UTILIZATION OF PLASTIC BAGS IN CONCRETE TO IMPROVE ITS PROPERTIES

Since 1950 to 2018, approximately 6.3 billion tones of plastic were manufactured worldwide, with 9% and 12% of that being recycled and burnt respectively. With the increase in population, the demand for plastic products has also increased which generate the plastic waste. Plastic waste not only hazardous to the human life but also adversely affects the environment. Annually, about 8 million tones of plastic are thrown into the water bodies, causing habitat degradation and eventually affecting aquatic animals. Long-term use and high-temperature exposure of plastic and plastic items can cause harmful chemical elements to leak into food, drinks, and water. There are different types of plastic generated every year. In this study plastic bags are used in concrete to improve the properties of concrete mix. Varying percentage of plastic i.e. 0%, 0.25%, 0.45%, 0.65%, 0.85%, 1.00% is added in the concrete mix and compressive strength test and split tensile strength was conducted on the specimen to check the properties of concrete.