Application of Municipal Plastic Waste as a Manmade Neo-construction Material: Issues & Wayforward

Abstract Disposal of the enormous amounts of municipal plastic waste, MPW, generated by contemporary society has resulted in a severe threat to the inland and marine environments. In order to reduce this menace, different thermal treatment techniques of MPW (viz., incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis) are being considered and practiced. However, apart from the exorbitant cost associated with the implementation of these techniques, to achieve eco-friendly results, MPW ideally should be devoid of heavy metals, chlorine, moisture and inerts. With these limitations in view, modalities to utilize MPW, as a manmade neo-construction material that acts as a binder and/or filler for manufacturing various end-products (read composites) viz., tiles, cement concrete, paver blocks/bricks, and wood-plastic composites, have also been explored by earlier researchers. Though this practice will be a panacea for sustainable development of the present-day society, various issues associated with the (i) suitable quality and composition of MPW, (ii) incompatibility between the binder and filler, and (iii) inappropriate process(es) adopted, due to which the resultant end-products entail inferior characteristics, need to be evaluated critically. With this in view, (i) review of the engineering properties of the end-products manufactured from MPW binders and fillers, and (ii) the issues and the way forward associated with the management and utilization of MPW, as a manmade neo-construction material, have been critically synthesized and presented in this manuscript. It is believed that such a discussion would be instrumental to utilize the MPW as a sustainable construction material.