Sustainable Polyester Composites Containing Waste Glass for Building Applications

The ecological construction of the future aims to reduce the amount of waste and minimize energy consumption related to the production and transport of building materials. One way to stop the destructive effects of the excessive exploitation of natural deposits is to implement extensive activities aimed at reusing, preferably multiple times, waste materials. This article describes the results of testing polyester mortars based on the developed experimental plan. It assumed the use of waste glass cullet as a sand replacement in the amount of 0–100% by mass and a variable resin/aggregate ratio in the range of 0.14–0.36. The use of a two-factor central composition plan allowed us to limit the number of research samples and at the same time obtain the necessary scientific information regarding the obtained mortars. Standard tests for flexural and compressive strength and bulk density were performed on rectangular hardened samples. Additionally, the change in the mass of the samples immersed in water was monitored for a period of 165 days. The analysis of the strength test results allows us to conclude that, with appropriately selected proportions of resin-glass waste, composites with a flexural strength of 30 MPa and a compressive strength of 91.4 MPa can be obtained. Including waste in a mortar allows elements with low water absorption to be obtained. At the same time, their production is about 2.5 times cheaper than their epoxy counterparts. The test results were compared with those obtained for epoxy-based mortars and with reference to the requirements set by the manufacturers of prefabricated polymer concrete elements intended for construction applications.