Composite Structures 96 (2013) 396–404

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Composite Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Use of recycled waste pet bottles fibers for the reinforcement of concrete
Dora Foti ⇑
Polytechnic of Bari, Department ICAR, Via Orabona, 4 – 70125 Bari, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the present paper the results of some tests performed on concrete specimens reinforced with fibers
Available online 9 October 2012 made from waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are reported. The fibers have been obtained
by simply cutting the bottles; the fibers are then added to the mix concrete or they are used as discrete
Keywords: reinforcement of specimens and little beams in substitution of steel bars. The tests are to be considered as
Waste PET bottles an approach to a more extensive investigation on the use of PET as a reinforcing material for concrete and
Fiber-reinforcement masonry structures. The results that have been obtained are very interesting, especially regarding the
Concrete ductility and durability
adherence between PET and concrete, suggesting a possible use of this material in the form of flat or
round bars, or networks for structural reinforcement.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction This gap is dramatically increasing, pushing towards finding a solu-

The problem of recycling waste materials of various kinds, is,
and will be, undoubtedly, one of the problems that will most afflict
the society in the future and that we must address and resolve in
all possible ways.
It is necessary that the researchers will find solutions also origi-
nal, imaginative and brilliant to the reuse of the waste. With the
scarcity of space for landfilling and due to an ever increasing cost,
the attention is towards the reuse of waste as alternative to dis-
posal. Research is always more interested in the use of such prod-
ucts in the concrete mix [1]. This makes the concrete more
economic and, at the same time, there is a reduction of the problem
of the waste.
In the literature there are many applications of plastics for
structural materials [2,3]. The development of these new materials
utilizing recycled plastics is important both for building and plastic
recycling industries. Of course these new materials should be sub-
jected to testing before practical application.
Plastics are largely utilized and therefore contribute to an ever
increasing of the solid waste volume. Among the plastic waste,
polyethylene forms the largest fraction, followed by polyethylene
terephthalate, most known as PET. The last is obtained in large
quantity from plastic bottles utilized as containers of beverages
and mineral water.
In Table 1, a description of PET and its more common uses are
reported.
Nowadays, unfortunately, the recycling rate of PET bottles is
much less than the sales of virgin PET production for common uses.
⇑ Tel.: +39 080 5963771; fax: +39 080 5963719.
E-mail address: d.foti@poliba.it
tion of this problem and a higher recycle of PET.
Particular interest is stirring, at present, the use of fibers ob-
tained from waste PET bottles. A possible application is to utilize
PET fibers as reinforcement for concrete to improve its tensile
strength. Concrete, as it is known, is a material with good compres-
sive strength but low tensile strength. This reduced tensile
strength is partly due to the presence of micro and macro cracks
caused by shrinkage of the concrete.
In recent decades, with the aim of giving the conglomerate a
greater tensile strength, it was attempted to add in its mixture fi-
bers of various types. The presence of fibers improves the tensile
behavior of concrete thanks to the sewing effect that they have
on the cracks [4]. Their action, in fact, is more effective in the
post-cracking phase, preventing and reducing the propagation of
cracks. Concretes with a higher ductility and a reduced shrinkage
cracking are obtained [5]. Ductility is evidenced by a large defor-
mation associated with the fiber elongation at break. Unfortu-
nately, the desired results were achieved only to a minor extent.
A drawback, in fact, is the reduced workability of concrete when
adding fibers, so that only a reduced quantity of fibers could be
added (maximum about 1% by weight of concrete) to get a material
that can be still workable to fill the formworks.
It is also known that, even for reinforced concrete, in the first
phase the compressive and tensile stresses are primarily absorbed
by the concrete. When the load increases, the concrete cracks in-
crease and the reinforcement in the cracked sections performs its
function, absorbing all the tensile stresses itself. Therefore, with
the aim to avoid or at least delay the appearance of cracks in
the structures, it is important not only to employ conglomerates
of greater compressive strength and, consequently, also of tensile
strength, but to try to limit the occurrence of macro or micro

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2012.09.019
 D. Foti / Composite Structures 96 (2013) 396–404
Table 1
Uses of virgin and recycled PET.
Name of plastic Description Some uses of virgin plastic
Polyethilene Clear tough plastic, may be Soft drink and mineral water bottles,
terephthalate (PET) used as a fiber textile fibers
shrinkage cracks, which could trigger the most visible cracking
phenomena.
For the reasons outlined above, fibers in the concrete mix do not
increase the compressive and tensile strength significantly; how-
ever, they are still useful to limit the cracks, especially those
caused by shrinkage, and also to give the concrete more ductility.
The fibers exert an action of sewing the surfaces where the cracks
occur. In other words, they prevent the brittle and sudden fracture
of a material that, depending on the type and quantities of fibers
used, may show a further post-peak deformation.
This effect is also present in concrete added with PET fibers. The
use of PET fibers falls in the attempt to suitably and profitably re-
cycle a waste material, produced now in large quantities, obtaining
the fibers directly from the bottles, by means of simply cuts, with-
out subjecting them to any special and costly chemical process
[6,7].
Studies have been developed to get the mechanical characteris-
tics of concrete reinforced with PET fibers [2]. The density, work-
ability, compressive and tensile strengths and the modulus of
elasticity of the mixture added with PET fibers have been investi-
gated [8–10]. Impact resistance has been investigated as an influ-
ence on concrete of polypropylene fibers [11] and recycled
plastics [3] showing an improvement of the impact resistance of
concrete.
Another interesting aspect is the thermal conductivity of con-
crete reinforced with PET fibers. It has been noticed that there is
an increment in the thermal insulation of the concrete both adding
pieces of waste rubber of tires and plastic fibers [12] or simply add-
ing plastic fibers alone [13]. In [13] PET filaments have been ex-
truded by an industrial process; the concrete added with these
fibers has shown a better behavior both for its mechanical strength
and ductility.
Anyway, in all the studies cited above, PET has been utilized in
the concrete mix in the shape of short strips. Sometimes the fibers
have been obtained after a long and expensive extruding process
from the waste bottles [14], or the surfaces of the fibers have been
coated with maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene and then
chopped into the desired fiber length [15].
Foti [7] has observed a better behavior of the circular shaped
PET fibers; they are obtained without any manufacturing, but with
simple transversal cuts of the bottles deprived of the top and bot-
tom parts. The circular fibers perform better than the lamellar ones
because they guarantee a higher concrete-fiber adherence also for
high stresses. The lamellar fibers, on the contrary, for high stresses
tend to slip off.
In this paper the results of a research on the use of PET as a rein-
forcing material of concrete is reported. It is part of a wider re-
search in the field of fiber-reinforced concrete obtained with the
use of PET fibers. Differently from previous studies of other
researchers, the specimens are made with a concrete mix added
with circular fibers the last obtained cutting waste bottles orthog-
onally to their longitudinal axis. The fibers have a width of about
5 mm and are added in higher quantity (1% by weight of concrete)
respect to previous tests. Another series of tests has been per-
formed on little concrete beams reinforced with long PET strips
positioned similarly to reinforcement bars in concrete beams. Re-
sults show a high adherence level between PET fibers and concrete
with the further aim to utilize round or flat PET bars (or networks
in case of plates and slabs) in substitution of steel reinforcement
397
Some uses for plastic made from recycled waste plastic
Soft drink bottles, detergent bottles, clear film for packing, carpet
fibers, fleecy jackets
with the important result to avoid corrosion problems and reduce
the deterioration of concrete structures.
The novelty of this research respect to similar studies on con-
crete that utilizes PET fibers is, principally, that PET has been uti-
lized in two different ways, not found in previous authors:
circular fibers added in the concrete mix and long strips for the
reinforcement of structural elements or specimens in substitution
of steel reinforcement. In previous studies waste PET has never
been utilized in these shapes, but only as short strips or filaments
in the concrete mix. In addition, in this research PET has never been
subjected to complicate chemical and manufacturing processes,
but fibers and strips have been obtained by simply cutting the
waste PET bottles.
2. Experimental program and results
Studies on the use of PET fibers for the reinforcement of con-
crete have been developing at the Department of Civil and Environ-
mental Engineering of the Polytechnic of Bari since the mid-
nineties. Both short strips of fibers and circular fibers have shown
a good sewing effect in the post-cracking phase of concrete.
In the present paper the results of further studies on the use of
PET as a reinforcing material of concrete are reported. In particular,
bending tests have been performed to obtain the ultimate tensile
stress of specimens in concrete reinforced with PET fibers. The load
has been applied in the middle of the specimen according to the
static scheme of Fig. 1. The specimens have been subjected to
bending tests by an Instrom L.T.D. equipment, under the same con-
ditions described in Foti [7].
Previously to the tests on the specimens, a series of tensile tests
on fibers of PET have been performed following the modalities
shown in Fig. 2a. In Fig. 2b the force–displacement plot referred
to one specific test is reported.
The tensile tests on PET fibers furnished an average value of the
tensile strength equal to 160 N/mm2 high enough and comparable
with the other fibers on the market for fiber-reinforced concrete
(FRC) (Table 2).
The testing program consisted of three parts:
(1) Tests on concrete specimens reinforced with circular fibers
of PET (1% by weight of concrete), and added with super-
plasticizers.
Fig. 1. Static scheme of the tests.
398 D. Foti / Composite Structures 96 (2013) 396–404

Fig. 2. (a) Test set-up for the characterization of the fibers; and (b) force–elongation plot of the tensile test on one fiber.

Table 2
Mechanical characteristics of different fibers for FRC.

Fiber type Equivalent diameter (lm) Specific weight (103 kg/m3) Elastic modulus (N/mm2) Tensile strength (N/mm2) Ultimate elongation (%)
Steel 5–500 7.84 200,000 500–2000 0.5–3.5
Glass 9–15 2.60 70,000–80,000 2000–4000 2–3.5
Polypropylene 20–200 0.90 5000–7000 500–750 8
Nylon – 1.10 4000 900 13–15
Carbon 9 1.90 230,000 2600 1
Acrylic 18 1.18 14,000–19,500 400–1000 3

(2) Tests on concrete specimens that have the same size of 1)
and have been reinforced with strips of PET obtained with
two overlapping layers of half bottles.
(3) Tests on larger concrete specimens reinforced with four
overlapping layers of PET obtained cutting longitudinally
waste bottles in four parts.
The samples were carefully prepared and stored for aging in
accordance with UNI EN 12390:2009.
2.1. Test (1): Specimens in concrete with the addition of circular fibers
Tests on the samples in concrete reinforced with circular PET fi-
bers (Fig. 3) were performed both to control their effectiveness
(comparing the results to the tests performed in Foti [7]) and to
determine the influence of their dosage on the increment of con-
crete ductility.
The tests firstly confirmed the results already obtained showing
the ‘‘sewing’’ effect and a larger post-peak behavior before collapse
(see Figs. 4 and 5); secondly, the tests have shown that dosages of
fibers greater than 1% by weight of the concrete are hardly practi-
cal, even with the use of superplasticizers, because the material be-
comes no longer easily workable.
Fig. 5 shows the results of the tests previously performed on
PET 0.50% and PET 0.75% together with the results obtained in
the present study on a mixture with PET 1%. The concrete mixtures
utilized are different: for PET 0.5% and 0.75% Composite Portland
concrete of Type II/A-LL (SN EN 197-1:2000) was utilized, while
for PET 1% an industrial ready-made mix concrete was utilized.
Therefore the comparisons obtained in Fig. 5 are interesting
regarding only the recovery of the load as it is not possible to com-
pare the peak values because the concrete mixtures are different.
It is possible to notice that the recovery of the load, in percent-
age respect to the peak, is faster for the mix with 1% of PET. The
 D. Foti / Composite Structures 96 (2013) 396–404 399

Fig. 3. Circular PET fibers.

Fig. 4. Loading test on specimens with annular fibers and detail of the crack.

drop of the load is about 70% respect to the cracking load for PET
0.50%, 55% for PET 0.75% and about 35% for PET 1%. The results con-
firm, as expected, that in case of PET 1%, the fibers are present in
quantities larger than in the other tested specimens and take up
more easily the load transfered by the cracked concrete.
A measure of the ductility of the different types of concrete is
evaluated through the following coefficient:
Du
lD ¼
Dy
where Du is the maximum deformation at the centerline; Dy is the
deflection at the peak load.
The last corresponds to the maximum deflection of the concrete
specimen because, before cracking, concrete is the material that
principally absorbs the stresses produced by the applied load.
When the specimen cracks for bending in the most stressed sec-
tion, the load is then transferred to the fibers that are able to
sew the fracture and to deform in the plastic range. lD is therefore
an index of the ductile behavior of concrete reinforced with PET
fibers.
Fig. 6 shows the values of lD for the different weight percent-
ages of fibers. The value of lD varies from a minimum of 11.73
for PET 1% to a maximum of 37.88 for PET 0.75%. It means that a
high percentage of fibers improves the concrete behavior but it
cannot be highly incremented because the circular fibers loose
their adherence with the concrete as it becomes less workable,
even adding superplasticizers (that is the case of the tested speci-
mens with 1% of PET).
400 D. Foti / Composite Structures 96 (2013) 396–404

Fig. 7 shows the peak values of the applied load, Pmax. However,
it must be noticed that specimens with 1% by weight of PET fibers
have been prepared with a different concrete mix.
Table 3 shows the characteristics of the concrete mixtures uti-
lized to make the specimens with different PET percentages.

2.2. Test (2): Specimens reinforced with half-bottles of PET

Thereafter, considering the high tensile strength of PET (of the

order of 160 N/mm2) it was decided to switch from the use of short
strips or circular fibers utilized as diffuse reinforcement in the
concrete, to the use of large strips, obtained from half PET bottles,
disposed along the side of the 100  100  400 mm concrete spec-
imens that would be subjected to tensile stresses.

Table 3
Components of the concrete mixtures.
Fig. 5. Load–deformation plot on specimens with circular fibers (1%, 0.75% and Fibers (wt.%) Concrete Portland Superplasticizers Water
0.5%). + Aggregate (kg) (wt.%) (l)
PET 0.5% and PET 0.75% 24 – 2.8
PET 1% and half bottle 25 0.8 2.7
PET strips
PET for little beams 43 1.4 3.0
specimens

Fig. 6. Values of lD for the three different fiber contents. Laminated fibrous
reinforcement.

Fig. 8. Half bottle reinforcement.

Fig. 7. Peak load at cracking for three different fiber contents. Positioning of the
fibrous reinforcement. Fig. 9. Positioning of the half bottle reinforcement.
 D. Foti / Composite Structures 96 (2013) 396–404
This is a type of reinforcement that does not fall within the
parameters prescribed by CNR-DT 204/2006 for fiber-reinforced
concrete, as it is a continuous reinforcement, not arranged in a uni-
form manner within the cement matrix, but concentrated in the
position where high levels of tensile stresses are expected, simi-
larly to the case of concrete reinforced with steel bars.
As regards the practical realization, the reinforcement has been
obtained from waste PET bottles of water, with a capacity equal to
1.5 l, having a square section with rounded corners and marked
surface undulations due to grooves useful for improving the grip
of the bottles themselves by the user. The bottles have been de-
prived of the bottom and the upper parts, while the central part
Fig. 10. Load–deflection plot for specimen no. 2.
Fig. 11. (a–c) Loading test on specimens with half-bottle fibers.
401
has been cut longitudinally into two equal parts to obtain strips
having a ‘‘C’’ section, with a base equal to about 8 cm and two side
elevations of about 4 cm. These strips were assembled using the
variation in section of the bottles and subsequently, after an appro-
priate overlap, fixed together with staples. The reinforcement con-
sisted of four of the abovementioned elements and therefore, at the
bottom and the middle of the specimens to be tested, there were
four layers of PET, each of a thickness of 0.2 mm, while in the side
sections there are only two layers (Figs. 8 and 9).
Two specimens have been made as described in the following:
first it was realized a thin layer of concrete on which the reinforc-
ing elements were lying and, subsequently, the empty side was
filled with concrete up to the complete saturation of the formwork.
The main purpose of the tests described hereinafter is to assess
the adhesion between PET and concrete and the attitude of the
strips of PET to behave similarly to concentrate reinforcement.
Therefore a standard test was performed on the specimens up to
a maximum deflection of 20 mm (Fig. 10).
The crack pattern shown at the end of the tests is extremely
interesting. In fact, unlike the specimens reinforced with circular
fibers, which detects a single vertical cracking concentrated in
the middle and sewn by the fibers, in the specimens reinforced
with PET half bottles, after the appearance of a first vertical crack
in the middle, inclined shear cracks appeared and subsequently
the detachment of the bottom area occurred while continuing to
exist a good adhesion between concrete and PET strips (Fig. 11a–c).
The load–deflection plots, in addition to the peak in correspon-
dence of the crack, then showed a fairly hardening trend with a
subsequent recovery of the load and increase of the deformation.
The tests have shown, therefore, the possibility of using strips of
PET as concentrate reinforcement for structures, or secondary
structural elements. PET fibers, in fact, not only confer a certain
402 D. Foti / Composite Structures 96 (2013) 396–404

Fig. 12. PET strips utilized in Test 2.

tensile strength to the concrete as a consequence of the good Fig. 14 shows the energy dissipated during the bending test for
adherence between the two materials, but also they increase sig- each specimen. It is possible to notice the large amount of energy
nificantly the ductile behavior of structures. dissipated if compared to the beam without fibers.
The highest value of energy dissipation is obtained for speci-
2.3. Test (3): Beam-specimens with a bigger dimension and reinforced mens 3 and 4. This result was quite expected as the latter show
with PET strips a more ductile behavior with displacements higher than 12 mm.
Fig. 15 shows the amount of energy dissipated at a displace-
From the results obtained from Test 1 and Test 2 it was decided ment of 6 mm in the centerline of each specimen.
to test the behavior of larger elements; to this aim four little beam This plot indicates the specimen with the fastest recovery of
specimens of dimensions 100  200  1100 mm were prepared, load from concrete to the PET fibers. It could be attributed to beam
reinforced with four long overlapping layers of PET strips cut from 3, even if the energy dissipated is more or less the same: it is al-
waste bottles. In particular the strips were disposed in the middle most 30–35% higher if compared to the total energy dissipated
along one longitudinal side of each specimen. Each strip had a by the not-reinforced specimen.
dimension of approximately 45  0.2  300 mm, and they were Fig. 16 shows the crack pattern of a beam reinforced with PET
suitably overlapped and connected together with staples. Fig. 12 strips.
shows a photo of the strips utilized as a reinforcement of the beam
specimens.
The little beams, after curing, were subjected to bending tests
with a concentrated load applied at the centerline.
Fig. 13 shows the load–deflection plots for a non-reinforced
beam and for those reinforced with strips of PET. The comparison
shows a ductile behavior of the beams reinforced with PET.
The ductile behavior in the post-cracking phase is evidenced by
the diagrams of Fig. 13: the low value of recovery of resistance
after cracking is due to the limited amount of resistant area of
PET fibers, equal to about 36 mm2.

Fig. 14. Energy dissipated during each test.

Fig. 13. Load–deflection plot for little beams reinforced with PET sheets. Fig. 15. Energy dissipated up to a displacement of 0.6 mm.
 D. Foti / Composite Structures 96 (2013) 396–404 403

Fig. 18. Cracking section of a beam specimen.

Fig. 16. Cracking for bending at the centerline of the beam and detail of a roller
support.

Table 4
Mechanical characteristics of the concrete utilized in the tests without PET fibers.

Type of tests Compressive Splitting tensile

strength (N/mm2) strength (N/mm2)
Specimen with 0.50% in weight 36.9 3.65
of fibers
Specimen with 0.75% in weight 39.27 4.55
of fibers
Test (1) and Test (2) 53.2 2.34
Test (3) 51.5 2.3

be assumed to absorb all the pre-cracking stress, it results rr =

Fig. 17. Maximum applied load at cracking for the little beam specimens.
Fig. 17 shows the values of the first cracking load for the four
PET reinforced beams and for the unreinforced beam. The peak
loads are not so different: they range from 8.88 kN to 10.95 kN.
In this case, as expected, it occurred that up to cracking of the con-
crete (which was also in a sudden manner) the stresses have been
absorbed, predominantly, by the concrete. Only in the post-peak
phase the strips of PET acted to absorb the tensile stress due to
the bending moment, showing a ductile behavior with a large
deformation before the total failure of the beam specimen. As al-
ready pointed out, the diagrams show a rise of the load in the
post-peak phase, even if small as a consequence of the reduced
area of PET strips utilized. Another important result to be put in
evidence is that failure occurred for all the fibers without any slid-
ing from the concrete beam.
From simple calculus it was found that the experimental behav-
ior of the beams specimens (especially at cracking and first ulti-
mate loads) reflects, in a satisfactory manner, the theoretical
predictions. In the post-peak phase it is possible to determine
the mean value of the ultimate bending moment, Mm = 607.5
kN mm. Equating Mm to the presumable reacting bending moment,
the mean force in the fibers at cracking is T = 3.97 kN. This value,
divided by the total transversal area of the fibers, results in a fail-
ure stress in the fibers equal to rf = 1103 N/mm2, that is of the
same order of magnitude of the values obtained from direct tensile
strength tests [7].
Regarding the splitting tensile strength of concrete at the mean
peak load Pmax,mean = 10.75 kN, assuming to neglect the strength
force of the fibers because, as previously mentioned, concrete can
40.31 N/mm2.
In conclusion, the tests carried out have shown, in particular,
the capacity of PET to adhere to the concrete in a satisfactory man-
ner, cooperating to absorb the tensile stresses. In fact, there were
no sliding phenomena of any kind and the collapse affected all
the strips at the same time (Fig. 18).
Furthermore it was found a ductile post-peak behavior, even if
it is not very large (due to the reduced resistant area of PET), which
is deemed to be considerably increased with the use of bigger
resistant sections of PET. The collapse load then confirmed the or-
der of magnitude of the ultimate stress of the PET fibers.
For completeness the values of the compression and tensile
strengths for the concretes utilized in the tests are reported in
Table 4.
3. Conclusions and future research
In this paper a series of tests on concrete reinforced with circu-
lar PET fibers and long strips have been performed. Important re-
sults are:
– a more ductile behavior of concrete;
– a high concrete-PET adherence.
As a consequence PET strips could be considered as reinforce-
ment of concrete in substitution of steel. More detailed studies
are needed; however, the results of the tests performed so far give
hope in its future, profitable use.
Possible applications of continuous PET strips are as mono or
bi-directional reinforcement for concrete slabs and pavements,
thin layers of mortar good for the tackle of masonry structures,
docks, etc.
Consistent with the production costs, it can be assumed also, by
recycling PET bottles or directly by using the base material, to
404 D. Foti / Composite Structures 96 (2013) 396–404
create networks, flat or round bars good to replace, in special cases,
the current metallic reinforcement. The advantages of PET fibers
compared to the use of welded wire mesh made of steel or adding
glass or carbon fibers are evident especially from economic and
ecological points of view. Compared to steel, moreover, the advan-
tages are also related to the increase of structural durability that
can be achieved.
Summarizing, the use of PET fibers and strips as proposed in the
present paper shows the following important advantages:
– Reduction of the plastic waste.
– Reduction of the production costs.
– Reduction of structural degradation due to steel corrosion.
In addition, possible predictive models that could fit the results
obtained so far and future experimental results could be studied,
such as energetic approaches to crack-bridging effects [16–18].
The models would give the possibility of a better interpretation
of the mechanical behavior of concrete reinforced with PET.
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledge Francesco Paparella for the
help in performing the tests, ‘‘Calcestruzzi San Giorgio’’, and espe-
cially Mr. Lombardozzi, for the collaboration to make the speci-
mens and Mapei Italia Group for furnishing the ready-made mix
concrete.
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