Analysis of replacing virgin bitumen by plastic waste in asphalt concrete mixtures

Lastra-González, Pedro; Lizasoain-Arteaga, Esther; Flintsch, Gerardo W.

doi:10.1080/10298436.2020.1866760

Cited by 22 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Asphalt mixtures with PE added through the dry process have greater increase in environmental impacts relative to the HMA baseline ( 43 ). Lastra-González et al ( 44 ) evaluated asphalt mixtures with binder modified with 25% of PE recycled from copper cables and flexible packaging film. Their LCA evaluated end-point indicators and revealed that modified mixtures could be environmentally beneficial compared with control HMA and that service life extension increased the benefits ( 44 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lastra-González et al ( 44 ) evaluated asphalt mixtures with binder modified with 25% of PE recycled from copper cables and flexible packaging film. Their LCA evaluated end-point indicators and revealed that modified mixtures could be environmentally beneficial compared with control HMA and that service life extension increased the benefits ( 44 ). It is noteworthy, however, that Lastra-González et al ( 44 ) accounted for the avoided burden of plastic incineration when PE is recycled and used as an asphalt modifier.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their LCA evaluated end-point indicators and revealed that modified mixtures could be environmentally beneficial compared with control HMA and that service life extension increased the benefits ( 44 ). It is noteworthy, however, that Lastra-González et al ( 44 ) accounted for the avoided burden of plastic incineration when PE is recycled and used as an asphalt modifier. The assumption of avoided burden positions PE-modified mixtures favorably and should be corroborated with the analysis of the current waste management practices for waste PE.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life-Cycle Assessment of Asphalt Pavements with Recycled Post-Consumer Polyethylene

Rangelov

Dylla

Sivaneswaran

2021

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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Extensive amounts of plastic waste worldwide require viable methods of recycling and reuse. One such example is the use of recycled plastics (RP) in the asphalt pavement industry, which has massive material consumption and usage of polymer modifiers. Research studies on the use of RP in asphalt commonly identify environmental benefits as a key motivation. However, assessment of the environmental impacts of using RP is limited in the literature. To address this gap, this study presents a life-cycle assessment comparing asphalt pavement sections produced with RP with the alternatives made with conventional hot-mix asphalt (HMA) and polymer-modified asphalt. The assessed RP mixtures were made with recycled polyethylene pellets introduced via a dry process. Cradle-to-gate results indicated that the impact of RP mixtures was greater than HMA but less than a polymer-modified mix. To account for different mixture performance, the analysis was expanded to a functional unit of one lane-mile of pavement for cradle-to-built and cradle-to-grave scope. Changes in pavement thickness and maintenance intervals were analyzed to determine in which scenarios RP sections can present equal performance with HMA and polymer-modified alternatives. Results demonstrate that RP pavements are environmentally beneficial relative to HMA when savings in pavement thickness of 12.5% or extension of maintenance cycles by 7% are achieved. Relative to a polymer-modified alternative, RP sections present environmental benefits when equal performance is achieved with no changes in thickness or maintenance. Accordingly, the results of this study encourage the life-cycle thinking and bracket engineering performance needed to achieve environmental benefits.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Life-Cycle Assessment of Asphalt Pavements with Recycled Post-Consumer Polyethylene

Rangelov

Dylla

Sivaneswaran

2021

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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“…For example, Lastra-González et al [63] observed increased permanent deformation by adding polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) to the asphalt mixture, whereas polystyrene (PS) reduced the resistance. Lastra-González et al [64] and others [7,22] also found improvements in rutting resistance with plastic film (LDPE) incorporation using a wheel-tracking test at 60 • C.…”

Section: Resistance To Permanent Deformationmentioning

confidence: 91%

Influence of Plastic Waste on the Workability and Mechanical Behaviour of Asphalt Concrete

et al. 2022

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The use of plastic waste as a bitumen extender added throughout the manufacturing process of asphalt concrete contributes value to that type of waste. Moreover, this type of polymer can improve some mechanical properties of asphalt concrete without weakening its workability and other mechanical characteristics too much. The study aimed to address these issues for four types of plastic waste, using different plastic contents added by the dry process and compared the results with a conventional mixture without plastic. A set of laboratory tests, such as volumetric parameter evaluation, the Marshall, gyratory compactor, and indirect tensile tests, repetitive four-point bending; and repetitive compression, assessed the workability and mechanical behavior of the studied materials. The results show that, although the addition of plastic waste reduces workability, the asphalt concrete retains satisfactory handling conditions. By adding plastic waste, the asphalt concrete becomes more elastic, and the stiffness values of the material are adequate to apply the material in a pavement surface layer. The resistance to fatigue cracking was at a suitable level for the asphalt mixtures studied. Adding the plastic waste in the study generally improved resistance to permanent deformation, although the performance was plastic type and content dependent.

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“…The results indicate that the waste PP asphalt mixture is more eco-friendly compared with the SBS asphalt mixture. Two highly modified asphalt mixtures, replacing 25% of bitumen with two types of plastic waste, show environmental and economic advantages; specifically, a 17% reduction in environmental impact and an 11% reduction in economic impact can be achieved [ 150 ].…”

Section: Engineering Properties Environmental Concerns and Practical Engineering Applications Of Waste Plastic Asphalt Mixturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Waste Plastics as Asphalt Modifier: A Review

Zhao

2021

Materials

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The use of waste products in the production of asphalt binders and asphalt mixtures has become widespread due to economic and environmental benefits. In particular, the use of recycled waste plastic in asphalt binders and mixtures is gaining more attention. This review presents analyses and comparisons of various forms of waste plastic used in asphalt modification, and approaches to incorporating waste plastic into asphalt mixtures, both for single and composite modifications. It focuses on the properties of waste plastics, asphalt binders, and asphalt mixtures. Overall, the incorporation of plastic waste into asphalt mixtures can significantly improve high-temperature performance and has potential economic and environmental benefits. The performance of modified asphalt is highly dependent on multiple factors, such as waste sources, waste plastic dosages, blending conditions, and the pretreatment methods for waste plastic. There are different ways to apply waste plastics to blend into a mixture. In addition, this paper discusses the current challenges for waste plastic-modified asphalt, including the stability, low-temperature performance, modification mechanism, and laboratory problems of the blends. The use of chemical methods, such as additives and functionalization, is considered an effective way to achieve better interactions between waste plastics and the binder, as well as achieving a higher sufficiency utilization rate of waste plastics. Although both methods provide alternative options to produce waste plastic-modified asphalt with stability and high performance, the optimal proportion of materials used in the blends and the microcosmic mechanism of composite modified asphalt are not clear, and should be explored further.

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Analysis of replacing virgin bitumen by plastic waste in asphalt concrete mixtures

Cited by 22 publications

References 7 publications

Life-Cycle Assessment of Asphalt Pavements with Recycled Post-Consumer Polyethylene

Life-Cycle Assessment of Asphalt Pavements with Recycled Post-Consumer Polyethylene

Influence of Plastic Waste on the Workability and Mechanical Behaviour of Asphalt Concrete

Using Waste Plastics as Asphalt Modifier: A Review

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