Waste plastic materials as insulation in cavity walls

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to test and investigate waste plastics as insulation in concrete blockwork cavity walls. This study will investigate the thermal performance of the following waste plastics: waste shredded Polystyrene and High Density Polyethylene and waste plastic bottles as insulation materials in a 50mm cavity wall. Testing of the 50mm empty cavity wall and of a 30mm Polystyrene board insulating the 50mm cavity were also undertaken in order to compare the performance of the materials under study with a non insulated cavity and with a proven effective insulation material. U values for all tested materials will be derived and compared against each other, and with the maximum permitted U value stated in the local building regulations. All materials except for waste plastic bottles resulted in improving the insulation properties of the cavity wall, which also gave better U values than that permitted by the local building regulations, including the empty 50mm cavity wall. The best as applied, material was the 50mm thick layer of loose fill waste shredded polystyrene, however a 50mm close cell polystyrene board would give better performance, since in this study. Very good performance was also obtained by waste shredded polystyrene loose fill material. The worst performance was obtained by waste plastic bottles.