USE OF PLASTIC WASTE IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Presented by

RAJKUMAR.N
STRUCTURAL ENGG COLLEGE OF ENGG, GUINDY-CHENNAI

INTRODUCTION
Plastic waste - hazard to the environment. Plastics waste - construction of flexible pavement.

What is plastic??
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic polymer solids that are moldable. Polymers are based on chains of carbon atoms alone or with oxygen, sulfur, or nitrogen as well.

Some researchers have genetically engineered bacteria that synthesize a completely biodegradable plastic, but this material, such as Biopol, is expensive at present. Companies have made biodegradable additives to enhance the biodegradation of plastics.
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HOW MUCH PLASTIC?

Each 5-member familys use of 5 gm plastic bags a week, all-India = 52,000 tons a year. 1.5 tons plastic goes into average 1 km road. So resurfacing just 35,000 km of roads a year will absorb all this littered waste. This is just 3.5 % of Indias 1 million km surfaced roads.
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SYNTHETIC RESINS
Derived primarily from petroleum. Polystyrene, polyesters and acrylics . Used in the manufacture of varnishes, plastics, adhesives and rubber.

Various Resins Of Plastic Types

Poly ethylene terephthalate (PET,PETE) High Density polyethylene(HDPE) Poly vinyl chloride (PVC) Low Density Polyethylene(LDPE) Polypropylene(PP) Polystyrene (PS) Polycarbonate(PC)
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Types of plastics

BASIC PROCESSES
i. ii. iii. iv. Collection process Segregation . Cleaning process . Shredding process .

Collection process

collected plastic

SEGREGATION
Plastic waste collected from various sources must be separated from other waste. Maximum thickness of 60 microns.

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Cleaning process
Plastic waste get cleaned and dried.

cleaning process
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Shredding process
Will be shredded or cut into small piece. The different types of plastic wastes are mixed together

shredding process
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FIELD TRIALS FOR PAVEMENTS

There are two type of field trials 1.Dry process 2.Wet process

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1.DRY PROCESS
The aggregate is heated to 170C in the Mini hot Mix Plant .

Heated aggregates

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 The shredded plastic waste is added in equal proportion.

Adding shredded plastic

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 Immediately the hot Bitumen 60/70 or 80/100 grade (160C) is added . The mixture is transferred to the road and the road is laid.

Aggregate-plastic- Bitumen Mix

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2.WET PROCESS
Waste plastics by direct mixing with hot bitumen at 160C. Mechanical stirrer is needed. Addition of stabilizers and proper cooling. Since the wet process require a lot of investment and bigger plants Not commonly used..
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CHARACTERIZATION OF WASTE PLASTICS

Binding property
Plastic is a good binder.
% of plastic coating over aggregate 10% 20% 30% 40% Compressive strength (MPa) 250 270 290 320 Bending strength (MPa) 325 335 350 390

Binding property

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 Pure plastics have low toxicity due to their insolubility in water and because they are biochemically inert, due to a large molecular weight. Plastics are durable and degrade very slowly; the chemical bonds that make plastic so durable make it equally resistant to natural processes of degradation. Prior to the ban on the use of CFCs in extrusion of polystyrene, the production of polystyrene contributed to the depletion of the ozone layer however, non-CFCs are currently used in the extrusion process. 19

CHARACTERISTICS OF POLYMER MODIFIED BITUMEN

That the use of higher percentage of plastics in polymer modified bitumen is favorable.

Polymer modified bitumen

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CHARACTERISTICS OF PLASTIC COATED AGGREGATE

Aggregate impact value
Plastics improves aggregate impact value. Helps to improve the quality of flexible pavement

Aggregate impact value

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Los Angels Abrasion Test Wear and tear values of plastic coated aggregate is found to be decreasing, the percentage of plastics used are.. (Eg.37% without plastic, 32% with 1%plastic and 29% with 2% plastic) Soundness Test
The plastic coated aggregate, did not show any weight loss, improvement in the quality of the aggregate.

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ADVANTAGES OF PLASTIC ROAD

Road strength is twice stronger than normal roads Resistance towards water stagnation i.e. no pot-holes are formed Less bleeding during summer Burning of plastics waste could be avoided It doesnt involve any extra machinery It helps to reduce the consumption of bituminous mix reduce cost
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Contd
Reduce the cost to around Rs. 15000/Km. of single lane road. Generate jobs for rag pickers. Develop a technology, which is eco-friendly. It is observed that addition of plastics waste upto 10-15% by weight of bitumen resulted into higher values of softening point and lower values of penetration, which are appreciable improvements in the properties of the binder. This has resulted and withstood higher traffic load and high temperature variation.
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DISADVANTAGES OF PLASTIC ROADS

Cleaning process
Toxics present in the co-mingled plastic
waste would start leaching.

During the road laying process

But the presence of chlorine will definitely release noxious HCL gas.
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 After the road laying

It is , that the first rain will trigger leaching. As the plastics will merely form a sticky layer, (mechanical abrasion).
Once the road is started to be used will cause the release of fine polymer particles. When air-borne, these will cause a particulate problem.
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CONCLUSION
Plastic will increase the melting point of the bitumen Use of the innovative technology not only strengthened the road construction but also increased the road life Help to improve the environment . Plastic road would be a boon for indias hot and extremely humid climate where durable and eco-friendly roads which will relive the earth from all type of plastic waste

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 It is approved in the Indian Roads Congress Special Publication 53 guidelines, 1999. Best results are with 8% waste by weight in 80/100 grade bitumen.

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REFERENCES
Vasudevan .R, utilization of waste plastics for flexible pavement, Indian High Ways (Indian Road Congress), Vol.34, No.7. (July 2006). S.S.Verma,(2008),Roads from plastic waste, The Indian Concrete Journal ,pp.43-47 Kajal , N K S Pundhir , Sangita and A Chandra(2007), Use of waste plastics and copper slag for low cost bituminous roads, Journal Of Scientific and Industrial Research,Vol.66.pp.938-994 IRC, Tentative Specifications for Bituminous Surface dressing Using Pre-coated Aggregates, IRC: 48-1972, Indian Roads Congress ISI, Indian Standards Specifications for Roads Tar, IS: 215, Indian standard Institution
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