Journal of International Scientific Publications: Materials, Methods and Technologies Volume 8, ISSN 1314-7269 (Online), Published at: http://www.scientific-publications.net USE OF RECYCLED PLASTIC BAG WASTE IN THE CONCRETE Youcef Ghernouti, Bahia Rabehi, Brahim Safi and Rabah Chaid Research Unit: Materials, Processes and Environment, University M’Hamed Bougara of Boumerdes. Algeria. ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to explore the possibility of re-cycling a plastic bag waste material (BBW) that is now produced in large quantities in the formulation of concrete as fine aggregate by substitution of a variable percentage of sand (10, 20, 30 and 40 %). The influence of the PBW on the fresh and hardened states properties of the concrete: workability, bulk density, ultrasonic pulse velocity testing, compressive and flexural strength of the different concretes, has been investigated and analyzed in comparison to the control concrete. The results showed that the use of PBW improves the workability and the density, reduces the compressive strength of concrete containing 10 and 20 % of waste by 10 to 24 % respectively, which have a mechanical strength acceptable for lightweight materials, remains always close to reference concrete (made without PBW). The results of this investigation consolidate the idea of the use of PBW in the field of construction, especially in the formulation of concrete. Keywords: Waste, plastic, concrete, strength, valorization, density, workability. 1. INTRODUCTION The valorization of waste in civil engineering is an important sector to the extent that the products to be obtained are not subjected to rigorous quality standards too. The valorization of waste affects two major impacts, environmental impact is solved by disposing of such waste and the economic impact is the use of that in industry or in the field of construction, this waste has the advantage of being available large quantity and low value (Hassani et al. 2005). The cementing materials, by their performance in terms of mechanical strength and durability dominate the market of construction materials. The addition of polymeric waste to concrete corresponds to a new perspective in research activities, integrating the areas of concrete technology and environmental technology. Industrial and domestic waste has a significant percentage of polymeric materials in its constitution, which occupies a considerable volume on landfills. Therefore its recycling is interesting to research and development of technologies for minimizing the problems caused by this waste. Several studies have been conducted on the use of plastic waste in concrete. The works of Rebeiz showed that the resins based on recycled PET can be used to produce a good quality of precast concrete (Rebeiz 2007). Many studies have been conducted on the use of scrap tire/rubber in mortar and concrete, and a research work has been published by Siddique a review paper (2008) on the use of recycled plastic in concrete (Siddique, Khatib & Kaur 2008). In the other study, Choi et al. (2005) investigated the effect of plastic waste (PET bottles) as aggregate on properties of concrete. The results obtained in this study showed that these wastes could reduce the weight by 2– 6% of normal weight concrete and the compressive strength was reduced up to 33% compared to that of normal concrete. Sikalidis et al. (2002) investigated the utilization of municipal solid wastes (MSW) for the production of mortar. Batayneh et al. (2007) have shown, in their work, that the decrease of compressive strength was in function of increase in the content plastic content. For a 20% substitution of sand by the waste, the compressive strength was reduced up to 70% compared to that of normal concrete. Also, researchers [Remadnia et al.2009, Yazoghli-marzouk et al. 2007) have also studied the use of consumed plastic bottle waste as sand-substitution aggregate within composite materials for building applications. These authors showed that the density and compressive strength were decreased when the PET aggregates exceeded 50% by volume of sand. Also, It was found that the addition of plastic waste (fractions < 10%) in volume inside of cementitious matrix does not imply a significant variation of the concrete mechanical features. The present study focused on the use of plastic fines aggregates resulting from the crushing of plastic bags waste rejected into nature and to find new ways of valorization in the field of construction. We will present, therefore, the fresh and hardened states properties of the concrete: workability, bulk density, ultrasonic pulse velocity testing, compressive and flexural strength of the concretes. 480