Use of waste plastic in construction of bituminous road

Abstract

Bottles, containers and packing strips etc. is increasing day by day. As a result amount of waste plastic also increases. This leads to various environmental problems. Many of the wastes produced today will remain in the environment for many years leading to various environmental concerns. Therefore it is necessary to utilize the wastes effectively with technical development in each field. Many by-products are being produced using the plastic wastes. Our present work is helping to take care of these aspects. Plastic waste, consisting of carry bags, cups and other utilized plastic can be used as a coating over aggregate and this coated stone can be used for road construction. The mix polymer coated aggregate and tyre modified bitumen have shown higher strength. Use of this mix for road construction helps to use plastics waste. Once the plastic waste is separated from municipal solid waste, the organic matter can be converted into manure and used. Our paper will discuss in detail the process and its successful applications. Now-a-days disposal of different wastes produced from different Industries is a great problem. These materials pose environmental pollution in the nearby locality because many of them are non-biodegradable. Traditionally soil, stone aggregates, sand, bitumen, cement etc. are used for road construction. Natural materials being exhaustible in nature, its quantity is declining gradually. Also, cost of extracting good quality of natural material is increasing. Concerned about this, the scientists are looking for alternative materials for highway construction, and industrial wastes product is one such category. If these materials can be suitably utilized in highway construction, the pollution and disposal problems may be partly reduced. In the absence of other outlets, these solid wastes have occupied several acres of land around plants throughout the country. Keeping in mind the need for bulk use of these solid wastes in India, it was thought expedient to test these materials and to develop specifications to enhance the use of these industrial wastes in road making, in which higher economic returns may be possible. The possible use of these materials should be developed for construction of low- volume roads in different parts of our country. The necessary specifications should be formulated and attempts are to be made to maximize the use of solid wastes in different layers of the road pavement. Post construction pavement performance studies are to be done for these waste materials for construction of low volume roads with two-fold benefits: (a) it will help clear valuable land of huge dumps of wastes; (b) it will also help to preserve the natural reserves of aggregates, thus protecting the environment. Plastics are user friendly but not eco-friendly as they are non-biodegradable generally, it is disposed by way of land filling or incineration of materials which are hazardous. Plastic is versatile material and a friend to common man becomes a problem to the environment after its use. The better binding property of plastics in its molten state has helped in finding out a method of safe disposal of waste plastics. Road surface with neat bitumen can cause bleeding in hot climate, may develop cracks in cold climate, possess fewer loads bearing capacity and can cause serious damages because of higher axle load in present conditions due to rapid infrastructure development. Useful life of bituminous overlays has reportedly declined 7- 8 from average life of 5-6 years in the past to about 3-4 years at present as compared to average pavement life (5-6 years) in abroad. India has to raise transportation system to a higher level both in terms of length and quality. This study presents the use of waste in hot bituminous mixes to enhance pavement performance, protect environment and provide low cost roads. Polymer and plastic modified bitumen, often abbreviated as modified bitumen is obtained with the incorporation of selected thermoplastics and shredded plastic from discarded waste, natural plastic or any other suitable elastomers in bitumen.