This concrete is made with cOViD PPE waste

RMIT engineers have found an innovative way to significantly reduce pandemic-generated waste

BY ManU PRakaaSH

An RMIT University research team has made a remarkable breakthrough, helping transform PPE equipment into reinforcement materials for strengthening structural concrete.

It will now make use of some 54,000 tonnes of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) waste that has been produced per day since the pandemic to instead increase the strength of concrete by up to 22 per cent, as well as improve its resistance to cracking.

Rajeev Roychand, the joint lead author of the research, has called the results “heartening.”

“There has been considerable interest from the industry, healthcare companies, as well as manufacturers of PPE items,” he told Indian Link.

“This is particularly significant due to the high levels of PPE use in the context of COVID. Also, a lot of the PPE items lay unused past their expiry date and need to be properly disposed of. Our research has a lot to offer in that scenario as well.”

The researchers from RMIT School of Engineering carried out three separate studies on the recycling of PPE, in particular rubber gloves, isolation gowns, and face masks. Their research has provided empirical evidence that these items can be used to increase the compressive strength and elasticity of concrete.

Rubber gloves increased compressive strength by up to 22%.

Isolation gowns increased resistance to bending stress by up to 21%, compressive strength by 15% and elasticity by 12%.

Face masks increased compressive strength by up to 17%

Pursuing a circular economy approach, the researchers have found a solution to the longstanding problem of recycling and disposal of PPE waste.

The project has already got on board with the industry, with the RMIT School of Engineering’s industry partner Casafico Pty Ltdset to utilise this research in some of their projects. They are keen to collaborate with the healthcare and construction industries to further develop the research.

Face masks are another waste item that can be converted to a valuable building resource. Every month, about 129 billion disposable face masks are used and thrown away around the globe. This research could be a massive step towards providing a smart solution for this evergrowing pile of COVID-19 generated waste, noted first author Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch, a Vice-Chancellor’s Indigenous Pre-Doctoral Fellow at RMIT. “This challenge will remain even after the pandemic is over,” KilmartinLynch said. “Our research found that incorporating the right amount of shredded PPE could improve the strength and durability of concrete [and provide a viable solution to this issue].”

Roychand added, “As such, COVID aside, there is traditionally a huge quantity of PPE materials that end up in landfills. Plastics from the PPE turn into microplastics and end up in oceans, thereby endangering marine life and causing marine pollution. Incinerating them [PPE items] is also not a viable solution. So, if they can be used in concrete, on the lines of what our research has come up with, it will provide a sustainable solution to this serious problem.”

In previous research, Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch had successfully repurposed COVID-19 single-use face masks to create road-building material that met civil engineering safety standards. Using this material to build just one kilometre of a two-lane road uses up 3 million face masks, preventing 93 tonnes of waste from going to landfill.

For Roychand, who moved to Australia from Amritsar, this research is the ideal avenue for his particular passion - finding engineering-driven solutions to some of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century.

The team are currently looking for additional funding to come through, so the research effort can be expanded.

“My colleagues and I are busy trying to find more industry partners for the adoption of this discovery and towards continuing teaching the next generation about concrete structures and building sustainability into the science of construction,” Roychand concluded.

All smiles: Indian Link team (from left) Iqra Saeed, Rhea L Nath, Charu