Introduction

• Disposal of waste plastic is a major problem. It is non-biodegradable & it mainly consists of low-density polyethylene.
• Burning of these waste plastic bags causes environmental pollution.
• To find its utility in bituminous mixes for road construction, laboratory performance studies enhances the property of the mix.
• Improvement in Properties of bituminous mix provides the solution for disposal in an useful way.

What are waste plastic roads

The roads constructed using waste plastic, popularly known as plastic roads, are found to perform better compared to those constructed with conventional bitumen.

• The Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment (ICPE) has been promoting the use of plastic waste to construct asphalt roads.

Need of study

• Disposal of waste plastic is a major problem.
• It is non-biodegradable.
• It mainly consists of low-density polyethylene.
• To find utility in bituminous mixes for road construction.
• Burning of these waste plastic bags causes environmental pollution.
• Laboratory performance studies were conducted on bituminous mixes.
• Improvement in properties of bituminous mix provides the solution for disposal in an useful way.

Concept of Utilization of waste plastic in Bituminous mixes for road construction

• This concept of utilization of waste plastic in bituminous mixes for road construction has been done since 2000 in India.
• At the imitative of M/s K.K.Poly Flex Pvt. Ltd., a study on the possible use of the processed plastic waste bags with the bituminous mixes was carried out at the R.V. College of Engineering Bangalore.

Material used

• Aggregate
• Bitumen
• Waste Plastic

Construction of Plastic Roads

Step 1-: Plastics waste (bags, cups, bottles) made out of PE, PP and PS cut into a size between 2.36mm and 4.75mm using shredding machine.

Step 2-: The aggregate mix is heated to 165 degree c (as per the HRS specification) and transferred to mixing chamber. Amount of plastic to be added is @8% of bitumen.

Step 3-: Similarly the bitumen is to be heated up to a maximum of 160 degree c (HRS Specification) to have good binding and t prevent weak bonding.

Step 4-: At the mixing chamber, the shredded plastics waste is to be added. It get coated uniformly over the aggregate within 30 to 60 seconds, giving an oily look.

Step 5-: The plastics waste coated aggregate is mixed with got bitumen and the resulted mix is used for road construction. The roller used is 8-ton capacity.

Step 6-: The road laying temperature is between 110-120 degree c. And the rollers are used have capacity 8-ton generally.

Advantage of waste plastic bituminous mix

• Stronger road with increased marshal stability value.
• Better resistance towards rain water and water stagnation.
• No stripping and no potholes.
• Increase binding and better bounding of the mix.
• Reduction in pores in aggregate and hence less rutting and raveling.
• No leaching of plastics.
• No effect of radiation like UV.
• The strength of the road is increased by 100%.

Disadvantage of Plastic Road

• Cleaning process
• During the road laying process
• After the road laying