When I was a builder we used to pour a concrete ring foundation with reinforcing steel in it and then fill up the center of the ring with river stone and compact it. Then we would pour a 100mm (4inch) thick slab on top with reinforcing mesh in it. Is there any reason the hard fill under the concrete couldn’t be recycled plastic chips the size of stones? (Same with under road surfaces). I feel like this would solve our plastic waste problem.
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This is one of the ways to recycle plastics. And it is done in some cases. Both as a simple fill and as agregate for concrete or resin. However the material properties of plastic is far from tha material properties of stone. Plastic will usually deform under pressure. While gravel stay porous and support the weight over time the plastic will sag as it collapses into the pores. So the slab you poar over top will start to crack as it becomes uneven and the drainage will be destroyed so the water will flow over top of the slab, or under the entire site digging out the dirt. So you can not just simply replace the gravel with plastic waste.
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