Creating a light and practical track surface. Plastic paving slabs - an easy way to lay out paths? Production of paving slabs from recycled plastic waste

Every owner who wants his property to look beautiful and be functional tries to do a lot with his own hands. Especially if he is a creative person. From this article you can learn how to make paving slabs with your own hands.

Where is the product used?

In principle, the scope of such material is quite wide. Most often, you can see such products in private areas of residential buildings, cottages, baths or other structures. You can also lay such tiles in gardens, squares, parks and other public places. Naturally, in the latter case, ready-made material is purchased.

Before you begin to understand how to make paving slabs with your own hands, you need to figure out whether it is worth doing it, what advantages the finished product has, what you need to prepare for work. First of all, it must be said that the manufacturing process is not complicated and does not require expensive equipment.

Material advantages

Before you make paving slabs with your own hands, you should consider its advantages. Among them are the following:

originality of elements. During the manufacturing process, you can play with colors and fillers. In this way, you will create exactly the design and shape of the tiles that you yourself want. Naturally, one should be careful here, because the proportions of the ingredients depend specifications products.

Low cost. Naturally, before you make paving slabs with your own hands, you need to choose necessary materials which must be of high quality. You should not "buy" for cheap cement.

Relative strength (although you should not lay these elements where the car will drive).

Manufacture of products directly at the installation site.

No need for expensive equipment. However, if you choose to open own business, then you can’t do without a couple of machines.

Ecological purity.

Resistance to rapid wear and durability (if all manufacturing steps are performed correctly).

Minimum injury risk.

Now consider the question of how to make paving slabs with your own hands.

What materials will be required?

Naturally, all ingredients must be of the highest quality. So, for work you need to prepare:

1. Cement (only the M-500 brand is required, since this type of material allows you to make a mixture that, after hardening, will be very strong).

4. Small stones.

5. Kohler (one or more).

6. Plasticizer (sold in a hardware store).

All ingredients must be free of impurities (garbage, leaves, grass). Also, before you make paving slabs with your own hands, collect all the right materials and the necessary tools.

Required Equipment

So, in order for the process of manufacturing products to go relatively quickly, it is necessary to take care of all technical devices to help speed up your work. So, you will need:

Concrete mixer. If there are several, that's good. In this case, the process will go faster.

Shaping vibrating table. You can also build it yourself. Although this machine is optional.

Form set. It is better if there are several dozen of them.

Tables or shelving that will be set as level as possible. Otherwise, the mixture in the molds may freeze incorrectly, with a skew. Naturally, such elements will already be considered defective, since they cannot be laid evenly.

Tool for pulling finished products out of containers.

Since almost everyone can do it, you should consider the technology of the work.

Features of the choice of form

This question is not difficult. Most often for homemade presented material are used plastic molds. They may have different sizes. In addition, our construction market represents a huge selection of types of such forms. That is, you have the opportunity to make a very original tile that no one else will have. Naturally, such a container must be strong enough so that it can be used more than once.

Before you do it yourself, you need to decide on the shape of the containers: square, round or some other. If you do not want to buy such material in the store, then you can use ordinary plastic food containers. However, they won't last long.

Features of the preparation of the solution

Before you make paving slabs yourself, you should find out in what proportions you need to mix the ingredients so that later the elements turn out to be of high quality and durable. You will need the following amount of materials for one batch:

It must be mixed thoroughly. And in order for there to be no air in the solution, it will need to be processed on a vibrating table.

Manufacturing instructions

Now consider the question of, in fact, how to make paving slabs yourself. The whole process involves the implementation of several stages that cannot change their sequence:

1. Preparation of the solution. All ingredients must be mixed thoroughly. This can provide Although gravitational works no worse.

2. Filling molds, as well as vibratory compaction of the mixture. This should be done carefully. Filling is done with a conventional shovel. For compaction, you need a vibrating table. His vibrations should not be too strong. That is, make sure that the solution in the form is distributed evenly. Such a seal will make the elements as strong as possible and prevent their delamination. When loading concrete, consider its level. In all forms, it must be the same. To do this, you can simply make a mark on inside containers.

3. Aging and drying of the elements. Since you want to make paving slabs at home quickly, many manufacturers may violate production technology. The quality of the elements suffers from this. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain the time that is allotted for the aging of concrete and its drying. So, after compaction, the molds with the mixture should “rest” on a flat surface for at least two days. In order for the maturation to go well, and the cement not to crack due to moisture loss, the containers should be well wrapped plastic wrap.

4. Removal of finished products from molds. Now you understand how to make paving slabs at home, you also know the composition of the mixture. However, you should consider how to properly remove the finished elements from the molds so that they do not break or crack. To do this, it is better to place them in a bath of water, the temperature of which will be no more than 70 degrees.

5. Warehousing products. In order for the concrete to dry quietly further, it is necessary to cover the tile with a shrink film.

After all these steps, the product is almost ready for installation. Naturally, he should be given time to gain strength. It is best to leave the material alone for a few weeks. Now you understand how to make paving slabs at home.

What is a "plastic bottle tile"?

The problem of recycling is very relevant today. However, a way has been devised to use plastic bottles, which involves reducing the degree of pollution environment. They learned how to make paving slabs from them. Moreover, this process can take place both at home and at work.

Before you make paving slabs from plastic bottles, you should consider the features of this procedure. Its advantage is the low cost of the product, as well as the absence of problems with the amount of raw materials.

The production of such material is divided into the following stages:

Grinding of raw materials.

Melting plastic in a special heating apparatus and mixing it with raw sand and pigment.

Pouring the resulting solution into molds and pressing.

Cooling tiles.

It should be noted that such a product is characterized by durability, high strength and resistance to abrasion, external beauty, a variety of shapes, and speed of production.

Making paving slabs with your own hands is not very difficult. However, the process has some nuances. For example, if you want to save a lot of color, you can use the layer-by-layer casting technique. Naturally, in this case, you will need two concrete mixers. Layers are stacked alternately, and colorless should be inside. The thickness of each is 1-2 cm.

If you have defective pieces of tile, then it can be broken and reused in the solution. New forms can be treated with a special substance so that later the concrete moves away from the walls better. After use, the plastic must be washed with a weak solution of hydrochloric acid. Forms for work can be made independently using silicone or wood. Naturally, these elements will need to be well fastened before work.

Please note that the plasticizer helps to increase the strength of the elements, as well as their resistance to temperature changes. However, don't add too much. For the manufacture of the presented building material not only concrete can be used.

Now you know how to make paving slabs at home. Good luck!

Ecologists have calculated that a third of all garbage on earth is made up of plastic bottles. Today they sell juices, mineral water, beer and other liquid products. Rarely plastic bottles are used a second time. This is a one-time use container, and therefore tons of this useless material accumulate in waste storage facilities. However, in recent decades, the processing of plastic bottles into the so-called flex has become widespread.

• Flex production technology
• How much money do you need to start a plastic recycling business?
• Manufacturing technology of paving slabs

This material is a white crumb of plastic, which can be used to make products that are no less useful in everyday life and production activities. A thin fiber is “pulled out” of the flex, which can be used as a bristle for brushes. It can be not only household products, but also cleaning machines for professionals. In the west, they even learned to make paving slabs from this material. In our country, such technologies are still a curiosity. There is practically no competition in the market. A businessman who decides to start his own recycling business will simply organize the reception of pet bottles and sale finished products .

Flex production technology

After collecting the bottles, they need to be prepared for recycling. Products are sorted by color: painted and transparent. Containers made of polyvinyl chloride are also selected separately. Bottles are cleaned of paper, stickers, other materials other than plastic.

In the second stage, the material is pressed. In this form, it is fed for further processing to an automated line. Often, mini presses are installed at the points of collection of containers. After such processing, the products become more compact and easier to transport to the place of processing. The stages of technology performed on it can be represented as the following sequence:

How much money do you need to start a plastic recycling business?

Between all stages, the raw material is moved by means of a belt conveyor. Plastic bottle recycling equipment costs approximately $10,000. A small plant will cost $200,000 already. A feature of such equipment is that it can be easily transported to a new place of work. There are even lines that fit into a container. The plant can be made mobile. Such devices, manufactured in Switzerland, cost 160,000 euros today.

Manufacturing technology of paving slabs

As a business option, consider the production of paving slabs from plastic packaging, bottles and other containers. This technology does not provide for such deep cleaning of raw materials as described above. Unnecessary foreign impurities burn out during processing. The only raw material requirement is that the ratio of soft and hard plastics be 40/60, respectively. Soft polymers are polyethylene. He attaches product lightweight shine. Hard plastic serves to ensure durability. This technology is good, which allows you to get rid of almost all PET garbage. It is impossible to add rubber, fluoroplast and polycarbonate to processing.

The second ingredient for making tiles is sand. It must be clean and dry. The quality of the tile depends on the uniformity of mixing of these two components. Processing steps:

To maintain such mini-factories, a large staff of employees is not needed. The biggest investment will require equipment. Given that the business is directly related to environmental protection, you can try to get a soft loan to purchase it and even enlist government support.

Paving slabs, or paving stones, are a beautiful, durable material that is used for arranging and decorating garden paths, sites and interior yard. Everything would be fine, but, to my great regret, paving stones are not a cheap pleasure, but everyone wants to make their yard clean and pretty, so I had such a great desire. Buy paving stones required quantity I could not - it turned out to be too expensive, but to make it myself - easily. :) It is about how to make paving stones on my own that I will tell you in this article, fully illustrating the manufacturing process.

Actually, the technology for the production of paving stones, as well as its recipe, was found by me on the Internet, since there is more than enough information, and I set to work.

For the manufacture of such paving slabs, it is necessary to have cement, sand, a superplasticizer and, if desired, a dye.

In the store, I purchased several bags of cement grade 500 and a superplasticizer, it will increase the strength of the paving stones and increase its resistance to low temperatures.



Not a huge, of course, but quite a decent pile of sand, brought about a year ago from a local quarry, we left after the completion of the house.

And I decided not to buy a colorant-dye. To be honest, as for me, the difference between colored and gray paving stones is small, the color still turns out with a shade of gray!

As a vibrating table, without which the production of high-quality paving stones is simply impossible, it was decided to use an old Siemens washing machine, which has long served its time, but is still very much in working order. If anyone does not know what a vibrating table is for, I explain - with its help, the maximum compaction of the forms of any concrete elements is achieved, in our case paving stones, which become more homogeneous and, accordingly, strong.

I will tell you about the forms separately and in more detail. :)

When I shared an idea self-manufacturing paving stones with friends, some of them suggested that I make the molds myself. Some suggested putting together forms from old wooden planks, the second advised to use unnecessary containers - trays, vessels, etc., the third persuaded them to make the molds themselves from a special polymer. Of course, I am a girl with “hands”, but I didn’t dare to do this, I decided to purchase ready-made forms, they are quite diverse, so you can choose a form with beautiful pattern, which will be imprinted on the surface of the finished product, giving it a special charm and chic.

Buying molds was also not an easy task, for a start it was necessary to decide which molds I needed: rubber, capable of withstanding about 500 castings - production cycles, plastic, which will last about 250 cycles, or polyurethane, the service life of which does not exceed 100 castings . Rubber and plastic turned out to be quite expensive, and given that I was not 100% sure of a successful outcome, I purchased ordinary polyurethane molds for making paving stones in the amount of 10 pieces.

I started the production of paving stones back in May, since the weather turned out to be favorable, and I continue to this day, I need a lot of paving stones. :)

Now I will describe to you in detail the technology for the production of paving slabs - paving stones. For one casting, to fill 10 molds, I needed 10 kilograms of sand, 5 kg of cement and 30 grams of superplasticizer.

I mixed all the above components well with ordinary manually in a large plastic bucket, and only after that began to add water in small portions, stirring the mixture until smooth - so that the solution is viscous.

At this stage, the main thing is not to overdo it with water, its excess will reduce the strength of the finished product at times!

In addition to the components listed by me above, fine gravel or screenings can be added to the mixture for casting paving stones.

In addition to the fact that gravel will add even more strength to products, its inclusions will visually make paving stones more natural - “stone”. The ratio of the solution in this case will be as follows: 30 grams of superplasticizer, 2 parts of sand, gravel and cement.

Before pouring our solution into the mold, it must be lubricated with a special emulsion. There are a lot of emulsions on the market for these purposes, but I took the advice of my old friend and treated the forms with ordinary dishwashing liquid - you can use any. I applied the liquid with a small brush, carefully distributing it in a thin layer over the entire inner surface of each form.

After all forms have been processed, they must be slowly filled with a solution. I laid the forms directly on the top cover washing machine and, filling them in half, turned on the machine in the spin mode.

To slightly increase the vibration, I first put an old blanket in the drum of the washing machine. As soon as the machine began to vibrate along with the forms, I added the remaining solution to them, filling them completely. Such an impromptu vibrating table copes with its task perfectly, and the quality of vibrocasting made me very happy.

Then I removed the forms from the washing machine and, having laid them out on racks in the garage, covered them with ordinary plastic wrap to prevent excess moisture from evaporating. Only two days later I removed the paving stones from the molds, it is not recommended to do this earlier because cracks quickly form on the molds during operation.




In order to remove the paving stones from the mold, I lowered them for a few seconds into water heated to 80 ° C, this contributes to the expansion of the mold, as a result, the paving stones are very easy to remove.

The vacated forms were filled with a new portion of the solution, and the paving stones were laid in rows on a pallet left over from the acquired blocks.

Finished goods the first 10 days were stored under plastic wrap, all in the same garage, and then moved to the street and kept for another month to gain strength.

Naturally, it makes sense to make paving stones on your own only when you don’t need a lot of it, although the concept of “a lot” is different for each of us. :) But it was this method that turned out to be the most acceptable for me, especially since the work did not take me much time and I did it in the intervals between the main things and, most importantly, with great interest and pleasure.

To make paving stones with your own hands or not, everyone decides for himself, and I can only say that it is exciting, easy and profitable. I hope my little master class on making paving stones will be useful for you, try it and brag about your results.

Today, around the world, the number of companies that use Hi-tech for the manufacture of products by the method of processing secondary raw materials. This process shows that not only the thinking of the producers themselves is changing, but also their attitude towards making profits. The ongoing global changes are also transforming a conventional resource-based economy into a high-tech economy that allows rational use of available resources without polluting our environment.

Of course, such production also requires financial investments, but believe me, all of them quickly return after the start of work. Now, thanks to the examples below, you will see that the recycling of secondary raw materials, in large and small volumes, is a combination of pleasant and useful, personal benefit and respect for the nature around us.

Manufacturing technology of polymer-sand tiles and paving slabs

For industrial or private production of polymer-sand tiles and or paving slabs, it is necessary to have ordinary sand, dye (preferably from Bayer) and used polymer material.

The ratio of the necessary components for polymer-sand tiles is as follows:

75 parts of sand
24 parts of polymer waste,
1 part dye.

For the manufacture of paving slabs:

94 parts of sand
1 part dye
5 parts of polymer waste.

Where to get recyclables? Polymer waste can be purchased very cheaply at recycling centers or at any landfill. It is absolutely not necessary to clean and sort them (from paper and food waste), because all this will burn out and will not have any effect on the quality of the finished product in the future.

What polymeric materials can be used?- any. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that used bags and old polyethylene film are called soft polymers, and any plastic bottles, polystyrene, polypropylene are called hard polymers. It is desirable if the ratio of soft and hard polymers are equal, that is, fifty to fifty. In Russia, the cost of one ton of polymer waste is approximately 3 thousand rubles.

Sand. The moisture content of this component should not exceed 10%, the content of impurities (for example, clay) should not exceed 20%. The cost of sand is 300 - 350 rubles per ton.

Dye. It is inexpensive - about 90 rubles per kilogram. Of course, you can do without it, but then the resulting tiles will turn out to be gray and will not have a presentation.

The production line consists of:

extruder,
melting and heating unit,
molding press.

Required working area (for installation of equipment, in a well-ventilated area) - 150 sq. meters.

Processing and manufacturing of products

In the extruder, polymeric materials are heated, then mixed and crushed into very small homogeneous particles (up to 10 mm).

Further, the prepared polymer material + sand + dye are mixed and this mass is poured into the melting and heating unit. There, the process of melting polymers takes place, and with the help of rotating blades, uniform and high-quality mixing of all the listed components.

The resulting homogeneous mass (like a tight dough) is placed in a molding press, in special molds, where it is then slowly cooled. To give the polymer-sand tile shine, in the mold upper part cool more slowly than the bottom.

The equipment and products themselves do not require any certificates or licenses. More detailed information about the equipment for the production of polymer-sand products can be obtained by e-mail: [email protected]

We produce ... oil!

One more interesting technology invented by American scientists. Its essence is to return plastic bottles to their original state, that is, oil.

So, the company Envion (Washington), has developed a method for processing plastic and polyethylene into oil. For this, the EnvionOilGeneratorTM generator was created with production capacity 50,000 bar. oil from 10 thousand tons of used material per year.

The cost of producing one ton of oil, thanks to this technology, is $17. The generator is easy to install and operate, high-performance, absolutely harmless to the environment. Is based technological process on the extraction of hydrocarbons from used plastic. Without the use of catalysts, by cooling the raw materials (plastic and polyethylene), thermal cracking in a vacuum.

Conclusions. To date, in Russia, the production of plastic and polyethylene processing has not yet been seriously debugged. Therefore, the commercial potential of this idea (the production of polymer-sand tiles, paving slabs and oil from plastic waste) is very large.

And further. Starting to produce the above products or raw materials, you can not only create new jobs, earn decent money, but also help solve the problem of recycling plastic and polyethylene waste and improve our environment.

Good alternative to traditional concrete pavers is a polymer sand tile. Due to its high performance, the product easily copes with the tasks assigned to it. Finished elements are distinguished by low weight, high strength and wear resistance, a large selection of colors and shapes. In this regard, many entrepreneurs decide to build their business on the manufacture of this paving. The article will describe polymer sand tiles and its production. We will also describe the manufacture of polymer tiles at home.

Characteristics and advantages of polymer tiles

Polymer sand paving products have the following composition:

• the main volume (3/4) is occupied by quartz sand;
• a quarter of the composition is high-pressure plastic;
• pigments.

Due to this composition, the polymer raw material is resistant to external influences and at the same time plastic, which facilitates the molding of the future product. The advantages of this material include the following:

1. Such pavement tiles will last up to thirty years.
2. A special production technology makes it possible to produce a product that is resistant to temperature extremes and its limiting indicators (withstands up to minus 70 ° C). Plastic in the composition of the tile increases the moisture resistance of the product. Thanks to sand components pavement coating is resistant to aggressive liquids and oils. The tile can withstand significant loads.
3. During the manufacturing process, the product is given desired color and shape, which guarantees a wide range of products. There is also a choice of surface options (matte, structured, glossy).
4. Recycling PVC waste (plastic bottles, boxes, bags) solves the problem of their disposal.
5. Light weight, strength and low abrasion.
6. Under sunbeams The product does not emit toxic fumes.
7. Maintainability and easy installation.
8. The coating does not accumulate dirt and is easy to clean.
9. Possibility of making at home.
10. Extensive scope of use (as pavement coatings and areas in private households and in public places).

Material used

The production of polymer tiles requires the following raw materials:

• used as a binder crushed polymers, they occupy a quarter of the volume (usually polystyrene, polypropylene and LDPE are used);
• sand acts as the main filler (it accounts for 75% of the total volume), well-sifted sand of medium size is chosen (it must be washed and heated to high temperatures;
• inorganic pigments(iron oxide is used to produce red, orange or brown tiles, chromium oxide is used to produce green coatings, titanium dioxide produces white tiles).

In order to reduce the cost of purchasing raw materials, it is practiced to manufacture tiles from plastic bottles and other PVC products, for example, boxes or even films (but in the latter case, no more than half the volume of all polymers). Because the polymer is neutral chemical composition, acts as a solvent Nitric acid. To obtain a homogeneous mixture, plastic is melted at a temperature of 180 ° C and high pressure. The melting process is called extrusion.

Necessary equipment

The manufacture of paving slabs from plastic bottles is impossible without the use of special equipment:

• plastic crushing machine;
• scales;
• melting apparatus;
• Press forms;
• press;
• extruder;
• listing equipment for the production of polymer sand tiles, it is worth mentioning devices for cooling products;
• forklifts are needed to move finished products.

For the production of plastic tiles at home, a molding press, a melter and an extruder are enough. If production is established in industrial scale, then you can not do without a molding unit, a thermal screw-mixing machine and a polymer crusher.

Important! In the manufacture of tiles for their own needs, a drill with a mixing nozzle is used to mix the components.

Also, for the production of tiles from plastic bottles, you will need molds for pouring the mixture. They are bought online. There are molds made of plastic, rubber and fiberglass. Rubber molds are the most durable (withstand up to 500 cycles), but also expensive. Fiberglass products are suitable for large tiles, but need additional lubrication. The most commonly used molds are made of ABS plastic.

Advice! Don't forget to buy curb stone molds.

Technology for making tiles at home

The production of polymer-sand tiles is carried out in several ways:

1. Method of hot pressing of a polymer mixture.
2. Vibrocasting with the use of plasticizers.

Vibrocasting allows to obtain products with low porosity. The hot pressing method produces tiles with excellent technical and operational characteristics. At the factory, for the production of polymer sand coating, the technology of vibrocasting and hot pressing is used simultaneously.

Tiles for own needs are produced directly on the street or in well-ventilated areas.

The manufacturing sequence is as follows:

1. Plastic bottles are placed in an extruder for grinding raw materials. Instead of bottles, old plastic boxes are sometimes used.
2. The heated mixture is then poured into a melter. Moistened sand and dyes are also added there. As a result of mixing and simultaneous heating, a mixture of a viscous consistency is obtained.
3. This composition is poured into molds and pressed on special equipment.
4. Finished products are cooled.

Coating technology

Do-it-yourself polymer sand tiles are quite easy to install. Laying is carried out on one of two types of base:

• rubble;
• sandy.

When laid on sand base work is carried out in the following sequence:

1. In the place where the tiles are supposed to be laid, the soil is removed to a height of 150-200 mm.
2. The soil is leveled and a surface slope is created for the drainage of sedimentary water. The surface is rammed.
3. On the sides of the path or platform, ditches are made for laying curbstones. The bottom of the ditches is compacted.
4. Then, sand is poured into the prepared ditches for the curb to a height of 50 mm. The sand is moistened with water and rammed.
5. Strictly along the line of the curb, pegs are driven into the ground and the cord is pulled.
6. The bottom of the grooves is poured cement mortar and install curbs.
7. Strips of geotextile with an overlap of up to 20 cm are laid on the compacted base of the tracks. The edges of the strips are connected with adhesive tape.
8. Next, sand is poured in several layers, followed by wetting with water. Also, do not forget about tamping each layer.
9. A reinforcing mesh with a mesh size of 5 by 5 cm is laid on the sand. A dry mixture of sand and cement is backfilled over the mesh (observe the proportion of 3 to 1). The backfill is slightly wetted with water.
10. Now start laying the tiles. The elements are laid out on the sand at a distance of 3-5 millimeters from each other. Use a rubber mallet for leveling.
11. Seams between paving elements are filled with sand.

If desired, you can compare with the cost of laying paving slabs.