International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 12 Issue: 11 | Nov 2025
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
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Innovative Approaches to Plastic Waste Utilization in Road Pavement Engineering Mahadeva M1, Dheemanth Kiran2, 1Assistant Professor, 2Undergraduate Students, Department of Civil Engineering, RNS
Institute of Technology, Channasandra, Bengaluru, India ---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------
process involves coating hot aggregates with shredded plastic before adding bitumen, which improves aggregatebitumen bonding due to enhanced intermolecular interactions (Shaikh et al., 2017). The wet process blends shredded plastic directly with bitumen before combining with aggregates, providing improved high-temperature stability but requiring more sophisticated equipment (Cardoso et al., 2023).
Abstract - The growing accumulation of plastic waste
presents a significant environmental challenge due to its non-biodegradable nature. Simultaneously, traditional road construction techniques face issues of long construction periods, frequent maintenance, and material depletion. This study synthesizes the current research on incorporating plastic waste into road pavements to address both challenges. Plastic waste incorporation occurs via wet and dry processes, enhancing pavement properties like rutting resistance, fatigue performance, moisture resistance, and mechanical stability. Various types of plastics—such as PET, LDPE, HDPE, and polypropylene—have shown improvements in pavement durability and resistance to deformation under laboratory conditions. The systematic review indicates that plastic-coated aggregates improve the bonding with bitumen, increasing the stability and lifespan of roads, especially under harsh climatic conditions. However, the impact on fatigue behaviour requires further research. Implementing plastic roads provides a circular economy solution, reducing landfill accumulation and promoting sustainable infrastructure development.
Studies by Vasudevan et al. (2017) demonstrated that plastic-modified bitumen mixes enhance road properties such as rutting resistance, stability, moisture resistance, and durability under harsh climatic conditions. However, some studies report inconsistent effects on fatigue resistance, emphasizing the need for further investigation (Wang et al., 2022). Despite these inconsistencies, the advantages of plastic road construction—particularly in regions with extreme weather patterns like India—are widely accepted due to the longer life span and reduced maintenance cost (Shafiq et al., 2016). Therefore, this research builds on prior work (Vasudevan et al., 2017; Cardoso et al., 2023; Shaikh et al., 2017) and evaluates the benefits of incorporating plastic waste into bituminous pavement mixtures using systematic experimental procedures. The objective is to determine the optimum plastic content and mixing method that can maximize performance gains while promoting sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Key Words: Bitumen modification, Fatigue performance, Plastic waste, Road pavements, Rutting resistance, Sustainable development.
1.INTRODUCTION Plastic waste is a significant environmental challenge in the modern era due to its non-biodegradable nature and long degradation period, which can extend up to thousands of years (Vasudevan et al., 2017). With global plastic production rising exponentially and poor disposal practices, an increasing volume of plastic waste ends up in landfills or natural environments, contributing to severe ecological problems (Cardoso et al., 2023). Moreover, traditional road construction methods rely heavily on natural resources such as bitumen, aggregates, and mineral fillers, which are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive (Wang et al., 2022).
2. Literature Review: The incorporation of plastic waste into road construction has gained considerable attention in recent years as an effective approach to address environmental challenges while improving pavement performance. Various studies have analysed the use of different types of plastic waste in bituminous mixes and their effects on mechanical properties such as stability, rutting resistance, and fatigue life. Vasudevan et al. (2017) explored the use of shredded plastic waste coated onto aggregates before mixing with bitumen. Their study revealed that polymer-coated aggregate-bitumen mixtures enhance binding strength due to increased molecular bonding between plastic and bitumen. The research demonstrated improved resistance
The concept of incorporating plastic waste into road pavements emerged as a dual solution to manage plastic pollution while improving the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures (Shafiq et al., 2016). Two primary methods for plastic incorporation are identified in the literature: the dry process and the wet process. The dry
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