Plastic aggregrate

Colorful alternative to mineral aggregate produces

striking design effects

BY JOE NASVIK

magine being able to

I produce architectur-
al concrete contain-
ing aggregate of any
color. It’s now possible
due to recent re s e a rc h
by Master Builders In c. ,
Cleveland, and Ge n e ra l
Electric Co.’s Plastics
Div., Pittsfield, Massa-
chusetts. Since 1988, the
companies have been
working together to de-
velop plastic aggregates
that can replace con-
ventional mineral aggre- This patio, one of the first installations of plastic aggregate concrete, uses an attractive mix
gates in concrete. After of gray, white, and black aggregate. Notice the interesting contrast between the pattern-
experimenting with sev- stamped area, exposed by acid washing, and the border panels, exposed by use of a retarder
eral plastic formula- and water washing.
tions, researchers found
that an engineering aggregate. In laboratory tests, con- moisture, the concrete also per-
thermoplastic called polybutylene crete containing an aggregate mix of formed well in freeze-thaw durabili-
terephthalate (PBT) had the great- virgin and recycled PBT had a 28- ty tests. It showed no deterioration
est potential. day compressive strength of 5500 after 25 cycles even though the con-
PBT is primarily used for electri- psi—almost 38% higher than that of crete was not air-entrained.
cal parts, automotive exterior parts, concrete containing crushed lime- But strength and durability aren’t
and small appliances. It has high stone aggregate. The plastic aggre- the only advantages of plastic aggre-
mechanical strength, low moisture gate concrete also had a 50% higher gate concrete. For designers, its
absorption, and good dimensional flexural strength and was more re- greatest feature is color flexibility.
stability. These qualities contribute sistant to abrasion and impact. Be- Almost any shade is possible, from
to its excellent performance as an cause plastic aggregate absorbs little neutral grays and tans to brilliant
reds and ye l l ow s. And like mineral
aggregate, plastic aggregate can be
exposed by waterblasting, sanding,
grinding, or acid washing to achieve
different surface effects.
For environmentalists, plastic ag-
gregate has another advantage: in
some colors, the aggregates are
made from recycled plastics that
otherwise would wind up in land-
fills. Because disposing of
waste materials is a growing
problem, some municipali-
ties and businesses have
launched programs re-
warding the use of recycled
materials in construction.
House of the future us-
es plastic aggregate
The first installation of
plastic aggregate concrete
was at the General El e c t ri c
“Living En v i ro n m e n t s”
concept house built in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in
1989. The house, which is
30% plastic, showcases
construction materials and
design and building meth-
ods that will influence the
way homes are built in the
future. It uses more than
45,000 pounds of plastics in
such elements as the roof,
flooring, windows, siding,
plumbing, and foundation.
The concept house fea-
tures plastic aggregate con-
crete in several areas. Con-
crete floors in the basement
contain various colors of
plastic aggregate and have a
t e r ra z zo-style finish pro-
duced by wet grinding. A
concrete patio contains a
mix of gray, white, and
black plastic aggregate. In-
stallers used stamping tools
to give part of the patio sur-
face a granite-like texture
and pattern. To provide
contrast, they exposed the
aggregate using two meth-
ods: acid washing for the
pattern-stamped area and a
retarder and water wash for
border panels (see photo). Plastic
aggregate concrete even tops the
home’s kitchen counters. Grinding
was used to smooth and polish the
counter surfaces.
More field testing needed
Plastic aggregate is currently
available for use in interior con-
crete. Applications include pour-in-
Precasters also can use plastic aggregate in such products gregate should drop as con-
as conference tables and kitchen counter tops. Grinding the sumer demand for the
concrete produces a smooth, polished surface.
place architectural flooring for of-
fices, malls, and other public build-
ings and precast products such as
counter tops, conference tables, lit-
ter containers, and wall panels.
The aggregate distributor premix-
es the material with cement, fine ag-
gregates, and admixtures then pack-
ages the mixture in bags. The user
only needs to add water to the
bagged mix. Because plas-
tic aggregate is lightweight,
the concrete mix is almost
35% lighter than conven-
tional concrete. The aggre-
gate comes in 11 standard
colors. Aggregate in three of
these colors is made entire-
ly from recycled plastics.
The manufacturer also can
produce custom colors to
meet special design re-
quirements.
The major drawback of
plastic aggregate is cost—
the material is several times
more expensive than most
mineral aggregates. Howev-
er, the price of plastic ag-
material grows.
Another problem is lack
of in-field perf o rm a n c e
testing. Because plastic ag-
gregate concrete is so new,
there have been few instal-
lations to date. More testing
is needed to determine the
m a t e ri a l’s long-term per-
formance under va ri o u s
conditions.
Joe Nasvik is president of
Chicagoland Concrete Spe-
cialists Inc., Lombard, IL, a
company that specializes in
placing architectural con-
crete. He also is on the
board of directors of the
Chicago chapter of the Amer-
ican Concrete Institute (ACI).
Publication # C910399
Copyright © 1991,
The Aberdeen Group.
All rights reserved