Manufacturing and Experimental Analysis of Bricks Made from Recycled Plastic and Asphalt

Plastics are increasingly used in everyday life. Most of them cannot be recycled and the remaining plastics cannot be used or decomposed. This leads to an increase in plastic waste, which contributes to global warming by recycling heat. The main goal of this study was to use as much plastic waste as possible to produce bricks that match the properties of traditional bricks, without negatively impacting the environment and climate change. A balanced mix of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), silica sand, asphalt and other additives were used to produce these bricks. To check the quality of the bricks, various tests like compressive strength, water retention and efflorescence tests are carried out. The compressive strength of this brick was 37.5 MPa, which is very high as compared to normal bricks. Efflorescence and water absorption tests showed that the bricks contained virtually no soluble bases and retained very little moisture. The resulting bricks were lighter and cheaper as compared to conventional bricks.