Development of Noise Barrier Made from Recycled Plastic and Rubber Granule Hemp Shive Panels

Noise pollution has become an increasingly discussed environmental problem in recent years. Developing a traffic infrastructure and recent sustainability goals require new solutions to mitigate noise pollution. This paper investigates the efficiency of the noise barrier made entirely of recycled materials. This solution would help achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs). The proposed barrier target SDGs are: Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3); Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9); Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11); Climate Action (SDG 13). The changed barrier parameters were the parameters of the perforated panel and the air gap behind the porous material. To solve the optimisation problem, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method was used. The results showed that the proposed barrier configuration was the following: perforation shape—round, perforation diameter—5 mm, increment angle perforation—30°, thickness of the perforated panel—10 mm, porous absorbing material (composite rubber granule and hemp shive panel (RGHS))—50 mm thick, 20% of hemp shive content, air gap between absorbing material and the rigid backing—100 mm. The total thickness of the noise barrier was 180 mm. The acoustic parameters of the noise barrier structure were: αavg. = 0.24, peaking at 0.51 (1250 Hz) and RW = 39.7 ± 1.0 dB. These results indicate that the proposed barrier made of recycled materials could be a sustainable alternative for noise pollution mitigation and improving people’s quality of life.