Concrete Fortified with Plastic to reduce pollution: MIT

Washington, OCT 27: Currently many people worry about pollution caused by plastic and also the amount of Carbon dioxide released during the manufacture of concrete which is the second most widely used material in the world after water.

To reduce the menace of increasing pollution the scientists have invented an eco-friendly method of concrete manufacture. Researchers at MIT found out that adding plastic in concrete would improve the strength of concrete by 20 % and also reduce the pollution created by the new material and would also help in better recycling of plastic.

Special manufacturing process

Researchers said that plastic as such cannot be added to concrete as direct addition showed that the concrete formed was brittle and it collapsed easily. so they designed a new manufacturing method.

# Plastic bottles/waste would be converted into flakes.
# The flakes would be exposed to low-intensity gamma rays which increases the strength of plastic
# Radioactive exposed plastic would be pulverized and added to concrete as additive

Finally, scientists have said that concrete formed is safe and it can be used for various constructions . However they said that some tests are being done and it would take some more time before this new technology is transferred to the society.