Thermal insulation of plastic waste brick composite with rice husk and sawdust

Abstract

The growth of plastic waste increases every year in almost all countries in the world, including Indonesia. One of the most potential ways of utilizing plastic waste is in the field of building construction. Plastic, and other agriculture waste such as sawdust and rice husk, had been investigated in some previous researches to be used in the innovation of building materials. This research aims to find the composition of plastic waste which was combined with sawdust and rice husk to become an alternative brick material as thermal insulation for the building. This research used two methods; the first was to produce some samples from plastic waste materials with sawdust or rice husk and the second was to measure the thermal characteristics on those sample materials. Sampling was conducted by using variations of the composition of the mixture which was then tested for its ability to absorb heat during the day and night. Measurement results showed that the percentage of 70% plastic waste increased the conductivity of the materials, both during the day and night. A recommendation of plastic waste and rice husk or sawdust composition was to use a ratio of 40:60 or 60:40 which would reduce the outdoor air temperature of 0.8 to 0.9°C at daytime. Rice husk as the supporting materials would increase the porosity of the materials and absorb the outdoor air temperature. But this porosity would reduce the ability to store the outdoor air temperature.