RECOVERY OF WASTE EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE IN LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE PRODUCTION

Sa？etak Polystyrene concrete, as a type of lightweight aggregate concrete, has been used in civil construction for years. The use of waste expanded polystyrene (EPS) as a ？ll material in lightweight concrete production is highly recommended from the point of view of the circular economy. Published data shows that an increase in the proportion of lightweight aggregates, i.e. EPS, results in a decrease in strength, bulk density and thermal conductivity of the concrete. Utilizing large quantities of waste EPS in non-structural polystyrene concrete production is particularly important. Unlike structural polystyrene concrete, according to the published papers, non-structural polystyrene concrete has not been investigated su？ciently. The purpose of this paper is to determine the in？uence of the ratios of the basic components in a concrete mixture on the bulk density and compressive strength of non-structural polystyrene concrete produced by utilizing waste EPS as a ？ll material. The test specimens, i.e. cubes with an edge length of 100 mm each, were prepared in laboratory conditions by varying the proportions of EPS, sand up to 600 g and cement ranging from 300 g to 450 g per specimen. Bulk density and compressive strength were determined for the test specimens. Laboratory research results show a dependence of the component ratio on the bulk density ranging from 360 kg/m3 to 915 kg/m3 and compressive strength ranging from 0.385 MPa to 2.538 MPa