MR6: Road carpet concrete from waste plastic waste

Today, the earth we live in is flooded with plastic waste: soil, air, ponds, lakes, rivers, seas and oceans. Despite the world, producers of 'Reduce, Reuse and Recycle' exhortations but plastic waste still increase continuously at a steady rate of 9%.

Reuse waste plastic to create concrete carpet materials is a very valuable treatment, while reducing investment costs, construction, increasing the durability of roads, and contributing to solving pollution of plastic waste. in environment.

Reusing plastic waste to create road carpet concrete materials is a very valuable treatment.

Identified

Previously, most of the soft road surfaces were usually covered with asphalt concrete (asphalt concrete, AC) on the surface. This asphalt concrete is a mixture of stone, sand, mineral powder and tar (bitumen, bitumen) which is a soft pavement structure.

Roads made of plastic, plastic roads, are roads built with synthetic materials of plastic (composite of plastic) with other construction materials. Thus, plastic road is different from normal road before it is carpeted with asphalt concrete because of this plastic component. In addition to reducing plastic waste pollution, this composite road is cheaper, and more resistant to corrosion than conventional asphalt concrete. Currently, there have been many countries choosing to use plastic for post-consumer recycling such as the UK, India, the United States and Australia . According to the plan, in September 2019, Dow Vietnam will complete and put into use 1km composite asphalt road at DEEP C industrial complex, Dinh Vu port, Hai Phong.

Development process

While working with charity in southern India, Engineer Toby McCartney, accidentally discovered that when burned, plastic waste liquefied will flow into holes, potholes on the road, filling. full of them makes the road more smooth and smooth. Returning to Scotland, McCartney, along with two founding friends and chief executive officer of MacRebur Gordon Reid, specializes in using plastic to create a new synthetic carpet material.

According to the Daily Record, Scotland, since MacRebur's operation to date, the company's recycled plastic roadbed materials have been used to build many roads in 50 countries around the world.

In our country, DEEP C Industrial Complex, Dinh Vu Port, Hai Phong, signed with Dow Vietnam Co., Ltd., is testing 1km of road from MR6 plastic waste carpet materials, inside the industrial park. . Recycled plastic waste for mixing is mainly used plastic packaging. According to calculations, for 1km finishing carpet, it will recycle about 4 tons of plastic plastic waste packaging, liberating less environmental pollution. This MR6 technology for concrete carpet concrete is verified by Vietnam Maritime University. After testing, evaluating and comparing with old asphalt concrete technology, replication is applied.

Road carpet concrete with plastic and tar waste

In theory, the technology of mixing synthetic plastic carpet materials is simple through the steps of: collecting plastic garbage, washing garbage, chipping garbage into small pieces with uniform size, melting plastic waste at temperature 150-180 ^o C, then mix it with hot aggregates including stone, sand, mineral powder and tar to produce finished products. Because the same chemical structure is hydrocarbons, the plastic in the waste after melting will mix well and physically connect easily with tar (bitumen), preventing the mixture from breaking and dispersed into the environment.

Currently, in general carpet materials plastic waste has replaced tar from 6 to 20 percent, and is being improved to be up to 50 percent.

MR6 is rated to be 60% better quality and 10 times longer lifespan than conventional plastic routes.

MacRebur Company Gordon Reid has developed many synthetic roadbed plastic materials, named MR6 , which are adaptable to different environments: in the Middle East, where tougher durability is needed to counteract the tendency of deformation due to temperature; In cold countries like Canada or Scotland, asphalt must be more flexible so that it will not freeze. In general, MR6 is rated to be 60% better quality and 10 times longer lifespan than conventional plastic routes.

Plastic pins reinforce the roads (plastic pins)

In the United States, plastic has been used a lot for road maintenance. By recycling plastic waste from landfill technology into giant pin pins inserted into the soil by Professor Sahadat Hossain, Director of the Institute of Sustainable Solid Waste, University of Texas, Arlington, reinforced the land on the slope of stable highways, anti-degradation.

In the United States, plastic has been used a lot for road maintenance.

Professor Hossain said: ' Recycling plastic recycling techniques have been successfully tested in many projects to stabilize highway slopes in the states of Texas, Iowa and Missouri ";' It only takes three to four minutes to install the pegs to the ground, the entire unstable area can be reinforced, reinforced. ' Each recycled plastic stake uses about 500 plastic soda bottles, and each ground reinforcement site uses about 600 plastic piles. plugged into the ground corresponding to 300 thousand plastic bottles taken from the landfill.

Discuss

Plastic waste is an environmental problem for the whole world. The United Nations Environment Council (UNEA), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has warned that by 2030 there will be an additional 104 million tons of plastic polluting the environment, and up to 2050 plastic waste in the oceans is more than fish.

In modern life, plastic is a necessity of people: food containers, drinking water, transport packaging, household tools . Therefore, in the slogan 3R, Refuse-Reuse-Recycle (term Recycling-recycling-recycling) , perhaps recycling is the most effective, practical and feasible. According to the calculation of MacRebur Gordon Reid, the 1km road carpet will help recycle about 4 tons of plastic plastic waste packaging; and according to Prof. Sahadat Hossain of the University of Texas, each recycled plastic pile uses about 500 plastic soda bottles, and each ground reinforcement site uses about 600 piles, equivalent to 300,000 plastic waste bottles, which will help the prize. Resolve a lot of this persistent waste.

Contrary to scientists and environmentalists, there is too much concern about very slow decomposition, at least 50 years for 600 years, of plastic waste, plastic waste carpet manufacturers apply This indestructible property to create more sustainable bridge and road construction materials.

It should be noted, the main solution of road carpet concrete with recycled plastic waste can also cause pollution. Dr. Vasudevan notes that only polypropylene (PP), polystyren (PS), polyethylene (PE) should be used, and PVC (polyvinyl chloride, flex) should not be used as raw material for the production of waste plastic asphalt mats. In the process of thermal decomposition, PVC will emit toxic gases to the environment. In addition, plastic utensils are not merely hydrocarbons but also have other chemical additives to soften, slow down because of heat or light, to create color, fire resistance, etc., and these substances will again May cause environmental pollution.

Replace the ending

Just like a medal, every thing has two sides. The method of recycling plastic waste into carpet concrete is the same. However, due to the many benefits, high feasibility, and large demand, we hope MR6 concrete will quickly become widely used road carpet concrete.

TS.BS Trần Bá Thoại

Member of Executive Board of Vietnam Endocrinology Association