Technical and Economic Viability of Distributed Recycling of Low-Density Polyethylene Water Sachets into Waste Composite Pavement Blocks

Authors

Celestin Tsala-Mbala, Energy Generation
Koami Soulemane Hayibo, Western University
Theresa K. Meyer, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Nadine Couao-Zotti, Energy Generation
Paul Cairns, Energy Generation
Joshua M. Pearce, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2022

Department

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Abstract

In many developing countries, plastic waste management is left to citizens. This usually results in landfilling or hazardous open-air burning, leading to emissions that are harmful to human health and the environment. An easy, profitable, and clean method of processing and transforming the waste into value is required. In this context, this study provides an open-source methodology to transform low-density polyethylene drinking water sachets, into pavement blocks by using a streamlined do-it-yourself approach that requires only modest capital. Two different materials, sand, and ashes are evaluated as additives in plastic composites and the mechanical strength of the resulting blocks are tested for different proportion mix of plastic, sand, and ash. The best composite had an elastic modulus of 169 MPa, a compressive strength of 29 MPa, and a water absorptivity of 2.2%. The composite pavers can be sold at 100% profit while employing workers at 1.5× the minimum wage. In the West African region, this technology has the potential to produce 19 million pavement tiles from 28,000 tons of plastic water sachets annually in Ghana, Nigeria, and Liberia. This can contribute to waste management in the region while generating a gross revenue of 2.85 billion XOF (4.33 million USD).

Publisher's Statement

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs6100289

Publication Title

Journal of Composites Science

Recommended Citation

Tsala-Mbala, C., Hayibo, K., Meyer, T., Couao-Zotti, N., Cairns, P., & Pearce, J. (2022). Technical and Economic Viability of Distributed Recycling of Low-Density Polyethylene Water Sachets into Waste Composite Pavement Blocks. Journal of Composites Science, 6(10). http://doi.org/10.3390/jcs6100289
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/16507

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Version

Publisher's PDF