A study on the use of expanded polystyrene as a substitute for fine aggregates in concrete hollow blocks

• Main Authors: Aguilar, Nico Lauren Andrew D., Octaviano, Jose Enrique S., Santiago, Timotei Martin C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2011
• Subjects: Polystyrene; Polystyrene xEnvironmental aspects; Recycling (Waste, etc); Concrete blocks
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/9679
• Institution: De La Salle University

Polystyrene is one of those materials that people come across in their everyday lives it comes in the form of a white bulky mass which is called Styrofoam. However, disposing polystyrene is a big problem since it is made of petroleum, a non-sustainable and heavily polluting resource, which makes polystyrene a product that cannot be incinerated. The recent means of disposing polystyrene is by recycling or dumping. In any case, recycling polystyrene has a very little market all over the globe and is not currently available in the Philippines. According to a polystyrene fact sheet, 25-30% of landfills are composed of polystyrene products which in time may continue to increase to a much bigger number. This study was dedicated to introduce a new innovation in disposing polystyrene wastes by making it as a substitute material to fine aggregates in concrete hallow blocks. In achieving the purpose of the study, test specimens with polystyrene was tested by means of direct load application or compression test.