Fibercon (Queensland engineering firm) has developed a technology—a first in Australia—that enables it to use recycled polypropylene plastic for reinforcing concrete instead of the traditional steel. Developed in conjunction with researchers from Queensland’s James Cook University (JCU), the technology has been used by Fibercon to recycle over 50 tons of plastic waste, resulting in reduced CO2 emissions, water usage, and fossil fuels. The technique will greatly reduce the environmental impact of concrete.
Since its first use in 2017, the technology incorporated into Fibercon’s Emesh product has been used by Australian councils predominantly in footpaths, but also has applications from concrete pavements to channel drains, embankment erosion control, precast sewer, and stormwater pits.
According to a 2016 report prepared for the Department of Environment & Energy, Australia averages 107kg (235 lbs) of plastic waste per person each year. Mark Combe, CEO-Fibercon explained, “So we have effectively recycled the plastic waste for 467 Australians.”
With concrete use at approximately one cubic meter per person (2.5 tons), Australia uses 25 million cubic meters of concrete per year. Conservatively, 5% is footpath and light pavements—equating to 1.25 million cubic meters. “If we replaced all of the steel mesh in these pavements with Emesh, we would reduce our CO2 by 125,000 tons annually, and re-use 5,000 tons of waste plastic”, said Mark. “It’s an exciting goal for us!”
“Using recycled plastic, we were able to get more than a 90% savings on CO2 emissions and fossil fuel usage compared to using the traditional steel mesh reinforcing. The recycled plastic also has obvious environmental advantages over using virgin plastic fibers,” said Rabin Tuladhar, Lead Researcher-JCU in a press release.
Rebar—steel reinforcement—in concrete was first introduced in the mid 1700’s as a means of improving the tensile strength of concrete, and is now the most commonly used form of concrete. Worldwide, around 1.6 billion tons of steel is produced per year, making steelmaking one of the world’s leading industrial sources of greenhouse gases. It is also heavily dependent on the use of fossil fuels and water. The process makes steel from iron ore by heating it with carbon—predominantly coal—carbon dioxide is produced as a by-product. Production of a ton of steel generates almost two tons of CO2 emissions, accounting for as much as 5% of the world’s total greenhouse-gas emissions.
By using the recycled plastic technology, Fibercon has also seen a reduction of 1,000 tons of CO2, 200 tons of fossil fuels reduction, and an 18,000 m3 of water reduction. “According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculations, the reductions we have achieved in CO2 emissions are the equivalent of taking 214 passenger cars off the road for 1 year. Plastic fibers in concrete have been around for twenty years. What is new about our product is that it is 100% recycled. The intention is to do something to give back, to close the cycle of useless waste,” said Mark.
With increasing recognition by Local, State and Federal governments for the need for sustainable building practices, Emesh is seen as a solution which contributes to the ever-growing quest for carbon neutrality and reduced environmental impacts.
AWARDS:
- 2015: Fibercon: Prestigious Shell and Australian Department of Industry—“Innovation & Science Innovation Challenge Award” for development of the recycled macro-plastic fiber reinforcing made entirely from industrial plastic wastes
- 2015: Australian Innovation Challenge Award in the construction and manufacturing category
- 2016: WINNER Engineers Australia (Community Section): Mark Combe: “60 of the Most Innovative Engineers in Australia”
- 2017: Mark Combe: Awarded the “Top 50 Most Innovative Engineers in 2017”
- 3-year PhD program at James Cook University: Fibercon: Industry sponsor to develop Emesh, in which fibers can reinforce concrete in footpaths, cycleways, shotcrete and small precast elements
- Media coverage:
Prestigious Journal of Cleaner Production
Building Materials Journal
ABC Radio
Science Alert
local newspapers
local TV news stations
For above media coverage: 3 video news coverage, publications, and photos, please go to: http://emesh.com.au/media.php
For more information, please contact:
Mark Combe, CEO-Fibercon
E-mail: markc@fibercon.com.au | M: (04) 1464-7077
For the Mirage Online News article, titled “Small Queensland Engineering Firm reaches Big Environmental Milestone in Recycling Plastics”, please go to: https://www.miragenews.com/small-queensland-engineering-firm-reaches-big-environmental-milestone-in-recycling-plastics/
For the Manufacturer’s Monthly Online Magazine article titled, “Qld engineering company uses recycled plastic to reinforce concrete”, please go to: http://www.manmonthly.com.au/news/qld-engineering-company-uses-recycled-plastic-reinforce-concrete/
Home Page Photo: MarkCombe,2016:
Engineers Australia Publication