Rationalizing the Recycling of Polymers from the Paint Industry During Production of Sustainable Concrete

摘要

The amount of leftover paint generated by households is estimated to be among the largest volume of liquid wastes collected by municipalities and state agencies, thus making its disposal a major concern for environmental and economical reasons. At the same time, the concrete industry is gradually shifting towards green materials and recycling programs with special focus on sustainable development. In this context, this paper is part of a comprehensive research project undertaken to evaluate feasibility of recycling waste latex paints (WLPs) during concrete production. Tested WLPs were not randomly collected from waste collection sites, rather produced to ensure traceability of composition, then stored in sealed or opened pail conditions to expire. Test results have shown that workability, air content, and setting time of freshly mixed concrete are directly affected by WLP constituents, substitution rate, and storing conditions. The concrete splitting tensile strength and bond to embedded steel bars showed considerable improvements with WLP additions.