Mechanical properties and durability of boardcrete blocks prepared from recycled cardboard

Abstract This study examines the feasibility of using waste cardboard as a lightweight construction material through experimentations. Waste carboards are burnt or dumped legally or illegally in a nearby dumping site, especially in economically developing nations like Pakistan, which is a threat to the environment. To utilize wasted cardboard effectively, an innovative building construction unit (block) has been prepared from carboard pulp, cement, and sand, named Boardcrete. To assess the optimum mix ratio, three different mix ratios: 1:2:4, 1:1:2, and 1:1:1.5 were adopted on trial and error method, and multiple engineering properties of boardcrete were investigated consisting of compressive strength, tensile strength, thermal conductivity, water absorption, and efflorescence test. The results revealed that increasing the quantity of cardboard has yielded low mechanical strength and thermal conduction of boardcrete and increase in water absorption has observed with the increasing amount of cardboard pulp. Based on the outcomes of experiments, it is concluded that boardcrete blocks are low strength-lightweight construction units possessing low thermal conduction and highly recommended for non-load bearing walls such as partition walls.