Use of Low-density polyethylene in flexible pavement

Abstract

Plastic is found in abundance on earth due to its cheap capital cost and large-scale availability. Plastic waste is a mean to degrade our environment as it is also a source of many toxic gasses and is non-biodegradable. There must be some way to eliminate such a threat to our surroundings. The use of Low-density polyethylene such as bottles, polythene bags, and much more as a replacement in bitumen blend provides various benefits like an increase in resistance to deformation, increase in durability, strength, reduction in seepage, mitigating of pollution, and gainful for waste disposal.

The Use of Waste Polymers in Asphalt Mixtures: Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Review

“…It is suitable for high-melting-point polymers such as PET, in which polymers are used as filler materials or aggregate replacements [30]. It can also be used for low-melting-point polymers such as PE, in which the polymers are melted to modify the bitumen or coat the aggregates [31,32]. On the other hand, the wet process involves adding waste polymers to the hot bitumen, which is then mixed with the hot aggregate [30,33].…”

“…In wet asphalt binder modification, polymers are commonly divided into two main categories: plastomers (e.g., PE and EVA) and thermoplastic elastomers (e.g., SBR and SBS). Plastomers reduce load deformation and increase the rigidity of modified asphalt, while thermoplastic elastomers improve its elasticity [31,32]. Also, reactive polymers are used in this method, with a primary focus on enhancing compatibility between the polymer and asphalt modification.…”