A Study of Recycled Polystyrene for Structural Concrete Application

Concrete has one of the highest carbon footprints of building materials in use, and is also one of the most often used building materials in modern construction. Polystyrene is a non-biodegradable polymer in continued use. This paper examines the feasibility of using polystyrene beads in structural concrete. Recycled polystyrene beads were used as a coarse aggregate in concrete mixtures to explore possible structural application. Two samples apiece of three experimental mixes of concrete as well as control concrete mixtures were tested in the laboratory for density and compressive strength at 14, 28, 56 and 70 days curing. The laboratory testing showed one experimental mixture was of comparable compressive strength to the control concrete mixture. The experimental results demonstrated that recycled polystyrene concrete in volumetric percentages below 18.75% could be a feasible green concrete mixture.