In many developing countries, plastic waste management is left to citizens. This can contribute to waste management in the region while generating a gross revenue of 2.85 billion XOF (4.33 million USD). In the West African region, this technology has the potential to produce 19 million pavement tiles from 28,000 tons of plastic water sachets annually in Ghana, Nigeria, and Liberia. The composite pavers can be sold at 100% profit while employing workers at 1.5× the minimum wage. The best composite had an elastic modulus of 169 MPa, a compressive strength of 29 MPa, and a water absorptivity of 2.2%. Two different materials, sand, and ashes are evaluated as additives in plastic composites and the mechanical strength of the resulting blocks are tested for different proportion mix of plastic, sand, and ash. In this context, this study provides an open-source methodology to transform low-density polyethylene drinking water sachets, into pavement blocks by using a streamlined do-it-yourself approach that requires only modest capital. An easy, profitable, and clean method of processing and transforming the waste into value is required. This usually results in landfilling or hazardous open-air burning, leading to emissions that are harmful to human health and the environment. The water absorption by immersion gives an estimation of the total (reachable) pore volume of the concrete, but gives no indication on the concrete permeability, which is more important with regard to durability. Furthermore, the water absorption by immersion is not a reliable parameter for the estimation of the concrete durability. It is concluded that the influence of the volume-to-surface ratio of the specimens is not significant when considering the natural scatter on the test results. Furthermore, some technological parameters are investigated, related with the volume to surface ratio of the specimens used for the water absorption test. Within these tests, accelerated carbonation and chloride migration tests are realised. Based on an extended experimental research programme, with tests on 22 different concrete mixes (traditional concrete and self-compacting concrete), the relation between water absorption by immersion and some concrete durability issues is investigated. Within some daily-used Belgian technical guidelines, the water absorption by immersion is considered to be a relevant parameter in this respect. A characterisation of this pore structure by means of a simple test is often investigated, in order to find a very simple compliance criterion with respect to concrete durability. The pore structure of concrete is known to be of high importance for the durability of the material.
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