Brief Review on Potential Production of Plastic Waste Concrete Aggregates Using Water-Assisted Melt Compounding

The plastic industry is one of the biggest and essential industries, ranging from domestic to engineering products. Nowadays, plastic waste is one of the major issues human-faced worldwide. It is predicted to worsen due to the increment in online purchasing rising from the Covid-19 situations. On the other hand, the construction industry is the largest industry in different economies and the highest consumer of raw materials. Along with the growing demand for concrete aggregates, natural stone materials are overused and eventually deplete resources. Both severe problems can be mitigated by recycling these plastic wastes to serve as an alternative to aggregates in concrete. Despite accumulative efforts, the produced plastic waste aggregates (PWA) is still inferior in strengthening the concrete due to poor interaction between both particles. Therefore, steps to further improving their properties and compatibility with concrete through various approaches are crucial. This review briefly introduces the current situation of concrete industries and global plastic waste accumulation issues. The efforts in the utilization of plastic waste aggregates in concrete alongside their properties are also discussed. Lastly, the water-assisted melt compounding and advantages in the processing of thermoplastic composites are also presented to serve as the platform for a new processing approach to be utilized in PWA production. Therefore, a better insight into the potential of producing PWA with improved physical, mechanical properties corresponds to the enhancing concrete strength via water-assisted melt compounding is offered.