Possible Applications for Waste Fishing Nets in Construction Material

Research on the use of recycled plastics in construction materials has increased over the last decade. The major trends and recycling applications for plastic waste in construction materials are reviewed in this chapter with a special focus on the use of discarded fishing nets as reinforcing material. The experimental part of this project included the characterization of discarded fishing nets of polyethylene with the aim of discovering new recycling alternatives for the use of fishing nets as reinforcement in different types of construction materials. The fishing net material was added either in the form of fibers or as pieces of net. The characterization of the polyethylene fibers showed that the material properties were in the same range as some commercially available fibers used in construction materials. The influence of the addition of fishing nets to construction materials was evaluated based on the mechanical performance and early-age shrinkage properties of cement-based mortars, gypsum, and earth-based adobe bricks. The results showed that the addition of fishing net fibers improved the post-crack performance of all types of tested construction materials, but the most prominent gain in mechanical properties was obtained for the earth-based adobe bricks. The addition of fibers was also found to mitigate shrinkage deformations and cracking of cement-based and earth-based materials.