Assessing the Performance of Polypropylene Waste-Modified Concrete in Structural Applications: A Case Study of FUNAAB Health Centre, Nigeria

Polypropylene plastic (PPP) products have added immensely to the world’s increasing non-biodegradable Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). This paper focused on assessing the generation rate of PPP waste products from MSW collected within the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB) health center, Alabata, state of Ogun, Nigeria in accordance with ASTM D5231-92 standard. The physico-mechanical properties of concrete produced by partially substituting fine aggregate with PPP were also assessed. Forty-five concrete cubes, cylinders and beams were cast replacing fine aggregate with PPP at 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% using Grade 25 concrete having a mix of water: cement: sand : granite in ratio of 0.55:1:2:4. The workability and mechanical tests were tested. The municipal solid waste (MSW) characterization study showed that Polypropylene (PPP) waste constituted 21% of the general waste fraction (equivalent to about 16% of the total municipal solid waste (MSW) generated), with a daily generation rate of 0.9345 kg/day. As the ratio of polypropylene plastic (PPP) replacing fine aggregate in concrete rose, the slump and compaction factor values exhibited a downward trend. The mechanical strengths of the concrete after 28 curing days decreased progressively from 0% to 10% replacement, with the 2.5% replacement level giving the best mechanical performance among the PPP mixes. All replacement levels up to 10% nonetheless met the 17.24 MPa minimum compressive strength specified by ACI 213 (2014) for structural concrete use, indicating that up to 10% of polypropylene plastic (PPP) waste generated from municipal solid waste (MSW) streams can be effectively recycled and utilized as an alternative replacement for fine aggregate in structural-grade concrete, achieving a modest reduction in density without falling below this minimum strength requirement.