Utilization of Plastic Waste as an Additive in Bituminous Mixes for Flexible Road Construction

Plastic waste and its disposal pose a significant threat to the environment, contributing heavily to pollution and global warming. Among various types of waste, plastic is one of the most harmful to nature due to its non-biodegradable properties. While plastics are convenient and widely used, they are not environmentally friendly. Traditional road surfaces made with plain bitumen often face issues such as bleeding in high temperatures, cracking in colder climates, reduced loadbearing capacity, and damage from the increasing axial loads caused by modern infrastructure growth. Incorporating plastic waste into road construction offers a dual benefit: enhancing pavement durability and addressing the growing problem of plastic waste management. The process involves shredding the plastic, coating it over aggregates, and then mixing it with hot bitumen. This composite mix is used in flexible pavement construction. The primary goal of the associated testing is to determine the optimal percentage of plastic waste that can partially replace bitumen while maintaining or improving the performance of the pavement.