International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract—In general, the quantity of plastics of all types consumed annually all over the world has been growing in a phenomenal way. The manufacturing processes, service industries and municipal solid wastes (MSW) generate numerous waste plastic materials. The increasing awareness about the environment has tremendously contributed to the concerns related with disposal of the generated wastes. It is believed that the management of solid waste is one of the major environmental concerns in the world. Due to limited space on landfills and increasing costs of plastics, utilization of waste plastics has become an attractive alternative for disposal. This paper provides a summary of experimental efforts on the utilization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) in civil engineering projects, mainly in road pavement, cements and concretes. Presented data indicate that use of waste PET for modification of asphalt, cement and concretes improved their selected properties, which makes economical this approach. Furthermore, using of waste PET in building materials reduce usage of new polymeric materials, which has significant effect on environment pollution (e.g. emission of carbon dioxide, waste disposal problems, etc.).

Index Terms—Bitumen, building materials, concrete, PET, recycling.

The authors are with the Department of Polymer Technology, Chemical Faculty, Gdansk University of Technology, Poland (e-mail: mohsulym76@yahoo.com).

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Cite: M. Sulyman, J. Haponiuk, and K. Formela, "Utilization of Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) in Engineering Materials: A Review," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 100-108, 2016.