International

Journal of Civil Engineering

and OF
Technology
ISSN 0976 6308
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
CIVIL(IJCIET),
ENGINEERING
AND(Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09 IAEME

TECHNOLOGY (IJCIET)

ISSN 0976 6308 (Print)

ISSN 0976 6316(Online)
Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09
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IJCIET
IAEME

PRODUCTIVE RE-USE OF MUNICIPAL PLASTIC WASTE

TO IMPROVE TEMPERATURE RESISTANCE AND
REDUCE RAIN WATER INFILTRATION IN FLEXIBLE
PAVEMENTS
Srinivasa Raju Penmetsa1,
1,2,3

Ashwin Kesiraju2,

AddepalliDinesh Varma3

Department of Civil Engineering, Gitam University, Visakhapatnam, India

ABSTRACT
Plastic waste is one such resource which is abundantly available and disposed of without
proper treatment. There has been an exponential growth in municipal plastic waste disposal
especially in urban areas which deteriorates the beauty of the landscape. Plastic instead of disposing
directly can be made used in an effective and ingenious way by which disposal problems are
succumbed and environmental pollution can be ameliorated. Scholars came up with a novel and an
effective method of re-using plastic in road construction. Plastic was found to be an effective binder
for bitumen mixes used in flexible pavements. This efficient method helps the pavements to resist
higher temperature by minimizing the formation of cracks and reducing rainwater infiltration which
otherwise leads to development of potholes. These pavements have shown improved crushing and
abrasion values and reduced water seepage.
Keywords: Environmental Pollution, Municipal Plastic, Rainwater Infiltration, Temperature
Cracking.
I.

INTRODUCTION

India has a road network of over 4,689,842 kilometers (2,914,133 mi) in 2013, the second
largest road network in the world. Adjusted for its large population, India has less than 3.8
kilometers of roads per 1000 people, including all its paved and unpaved roads. In terms of quality,
all season, 4 or more lane highways, India has less than 0.07 kilometers of highways per 1000
people, as of 2010. Taking these shortcomings into account, diverse road network is essential to
provide a forward thrust to infrastructure development. Instead of following traditional methods,
novel and innovative methods needs to implemented to improve lifespan and performance of
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09 IAEME

pavements. Plastic products are an integral part in our daily life as a basic need. One such method is
using of municipal plastic waste as binder in flexible pavements. Municipal waste, commonly known
as trash or garbage, is a combination of all of a city's solid and semisolid waste. It includes mainly
household or domestic waste, but it can also contain commercial and industrial waste.
If there is one type of municipal solid waste that has become ubiquitous in India and most
developing countries, and largely seen along the shores and waterways of many developed countries,
it is plastic waste. Much of it is not recycled, and ends up in landfills or as litter on land, in
waterways and the ocean. For the first time, researchers have estimated the amount of plastic that
makes its way into the oceans. While the estimate of eight million tonnes of plastic being dumped
into the oceans by 192 coastal countries in 2010 may appear staggeringly high, in reality the quantity
would be many times more. Municipal plastic waste comprises of 65-75 percent of the total plastic
waste generated in India. Besides estimating the total quantity, a paper published recently in the
journal Science has identified the top 20 countries that have dumped the most plastic waste into the
oceans. At twelfth position, India is one of the worst performers. It has dumped up to 0.24 million
tons of plastic into the ocean every year; the amount of mismanaged plastic waste per year is 0.6
million tons. In the case of China, the No. 1 polluter, the coastal population sends up to 3.53 million
tons of plastic waste into the oceans each year. Besides the 11 Asian and South East Asian countries,
the U.S. figures in the list. Availability of this waste in abundance and disposal without treatment
causes large scale environmental pollution. Landfill areas are constantly piled high with many
different types of plastics.
In these landfills, there are many micro-organisms which speed up the biodegradation of
plastics. Regarding biodegradable plastic as they are broken down, methane is released, which is a
very powerful greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global is warming. Plastics contain
many different types of chemicals, depending on the type of plastic. The addition of chemicals is the
main reason why these plastics have become so multipurpose; however this has problems associated
with it. Some of the chemicals used in plastic production have the potential to be absorbed by human
beings through skin absorption. Incineration of plastic waste is a costly affair and land filling
degrades the soil and causes pollution of ground water due to rain water infiltration. The plastic waste
can be effectively used as a binder in flexible pavements. They may be used to improve resistance,
improve fatigue resistance to deformation as well as improved durability of open graded mixes.
Plastic coated may have same or even higher stiffness than conventional bitumen, but without a large
increase in flexibility. These modified mixes reduce the permanent deformation or rutting of the
bituminous surface course under traffic loads. These offer better resistance to deformation under at
higher temperatures. The behavior of plastic coated bitumen to various tests is the prime focus of this
article.
The process involved in laying plastic roads begins with collection of plastic waste (bags,
cups, thermocole) made out of PE, PP, & PS which are separated, cleaned if needed and shredded to
small pieces (passing through 4.35mm sieve) The aggregate (granite) is heated to 170C in the Mini
hot Mix Plant and the shredded plastic waste is added, it gets softened and coated over the aggregate.
Immediately the hot Bitumen (160C) is added and mixed well. As the polymer and the bitumen are
is the molten state (liquid state) they get mixed and the blend is formed at surface of the aggregate.
The mixture is transferred to the road and the road is laid. This technique is extended to Central
Mixing Plant too.
The durability of the roads laid out with shredded plastic waste is much more compared with
roads with asphalt with the ordinary mix. Roads laid with plastic waste mix are found to be better
than the conventional ones. The binding property of plastic makes the road last longer besides giving
added strength to withstand more loads. While a normal 'highway quality' road lasts four to five
years it is claimed that plastic-bitumen roads can last up to 10 years. Rainwater will not seep through
because of the plastic in the tar. So, this technology will result in lesser road repairs. And as each km
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09 IAEME

of road with an average width requires over two tons of polyblend, using plastic will help reduce
non-biodegradable waste. The cost of plastic road construction may be slightly higher compared to
the conventional method. However, this should not deter the adoption of the technology as the
benefits are much higher than the cost. Plastic roads would be a boon for Indias hot and extremely
humid climate, where temperatures frequently cross 50C and torrential rains create havoc, leaving
most of the roads with big potholes. Already, a kilometer long test-track has been tested in Karnataka
using this technology. The government is keen on encouraging the setting up of small plants for
mixing waste plastic and bitumen for road construction. It is hoped that in near future we will have
strong, durable and eco-friendly roads which will relieve the earth from all type of plastic-waste.
II.

METHODOLOGY

The following tests are done of thr Aggregates:

Aggregate Crushing Value Test

Aggregate Imapct Value Test

Water Absorption Test

Marshall Stability Test

The Aggregates are coated with in two different ways. One set of aggregates are coated with
normal mix bitumen and the other with plastic coated bitumen. Normal mix specimens are prepared
using 4 percent, 4.5 percent and 5 percent bitumen content. When it comes to plastic coated bitumen,
4.5 percent bitumen is taken mixed with 1 percent, 3 percent, 5 percent and 7 percent plastic content
and are added to heated aggregates. On these specimens the tests mentioned above are performed
and values are compared between normal mix and plastic mix specimens.
III.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS

Aggregate Crushing value Test aggregates coated with a normal mix with a bitumen content of
4.5% is taken and compared with Plastic Coated Bitumen mix coated with 5% Plastic Content (
taking the same Bitumen i.e 4.5% bitumen). The Values can be seen in Graph 1.

Graph 1

International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09 IAEME

Aggregate Impact Value similarly to that of Crushing Value, aggregates coated with a normal mix
with a bitumen content of 4.5% is taken and compared with Plastic Coated Bitumen mix coated with
5% Plastic Content( but taking the same Bitumen i.e. 4% bitumen). The comparison made can be
seen from the graph.

Graph 2
Water Absorption Test gives an idea of strength of rock. Stones having more water absorption are
more porous in nature and are generally unsuitable and lead to the formation of potholes in the long
run. The Graph 3 below shows the difference in water absorption capacities of aggregates which are
Plastic Coated and Normal mix bitumen.

Graph 3
Marshall Stability Test on Normal Mix Specimens
Marshall Stability is conducted on three different samples coated with a bitumen contents of
4 percent, 4.5 percent and 5 percent. The behavior of these samples proved to be different and these
values are shown in the graphs below. Graph 4.1 to Graph 4.6 provides the information

International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09 IAEME

Graph 4.1

Graph 4.2

Graph 4.3

International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09 IAEME

Graph 4.4

Graph 4.5

Graph 4.6
Marshall Stability Test on Plastic Modified Mix Specimens
Marshall Stability is conducted using 1 percent, 3 percent, 5 percent, 7 percent plastic content
mixing it with 4.5 percent bitumen and coated over heated aggregate. The graphs are plotted and
these values can be seen from the plots below. Graph 5.1 to Graph 5.6

International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09 IAEME

Graph 5.1

Graph 5.2

Graph 5.3

International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09 IAEME

Graph 5.4

Graph 5.5

Graph 5.6
IV.

CONCLUSIONS

The conclusions which can be drawn from the discussions are:

The Aggregate crushing Value of plastic coated bitumen is 41.86 percent lower than
aggregate coated with normal bitumen mix. Both these values are within IRC limits (i.e. less
than 30). This implies that plastic coated aggregates will be subjected to less crushing due to
moving vehicle loads. The influence of temperature will be minimum reducing the formation
of cracks.
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print),
ISSN 0976 6316(Online), Volume 6, Issue 3, March (2015), pp. 01-09 IAEME

The Aggregate Impact Value of plastic coated bitumen is 28.44 percent lower than aggregate
coated with normal bitumen mix. These values are well within IRC limits (i.e. less than 30).
This infers that plastic coated bitumen can resist greater impact and pavements coated with
plastic have a longer lifetime.
The Water Absorption Capacity of plastic coated bitumen is 91 percent lower than aggregate
coated with normal bitumen mix. The values are within the IRC limits (i.e. less than 2). The
value of absorption can be taken as negligible. The above results state that water absorption is
very less in plastic coated bitumen, thus reducing infiltration eliminating the possibility of
formation of potholes.
The ideal plastic content which needs to be added is 5% weight of bitumen.
The Marshall Stability value of plastic coated bitumen is 1.5 times greater than the one which
is coated normal bitumen mix. This indicates the strength which plastic content imparts to the
aggregate thus improving load carrying capacity with minimal deflection.
Thus the analysis and results presented above shows that plastic obtained from
municipal plastic waste, proved to be a better binder for pavements than normal bitumen. The
properties displayed by plastic coated bitumen are beneficial without incurring much cost
leading for effective, economic and efficient laying of roads. In this way plastic waste can be
re-used reducing environmental pollution.

REFERENCES
Journal Papers
1.
Bhageerathy K.P, Anu P.Alex, Manju V.S, Raji A.K ,Use of Biomedical Plastic Waste in Bituminous
Road Construction, International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Volume 3, Issue
6, August 2014.
2.
Miss Apurva J Chavan, Use of Plastic Waste in Flexible Pavements International Journal of
Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management Volume 2, Issue 4, April 2013.
3.
Vatsal Patel, Snehal Popli, Drashti Bhatt, Utilization of Plastic Waste in Construction of Roads,
International Journal of Scientific Research, Volume 3, Issue 4, April 2014.
4.
Sangita, Gupta Reena, Kaur Verinder, A Novel Approach to Improve Road Quality by Utilizing
Plastic Waste in Road Construction, Journal of Environmental Research and Development Volume 5,
Issue 4, April 2011.
5.
S.S Verma, Roads from Plastic Waste, The Indian Concrete Journal, November 2008.
6.
Rishi Singh Chhabra, Supriya Marik, A Review of Literature on the Use of Plastics and Waste Rubber
Tyres in Pavements, International Journal of Core Engineering and Management, Volume 1, Issue 1,
April 2014
7.
Mercy Joseph Poweth, Solly George, Jessy Paul, Study on Use of Plastic Waste in Road Construction,
International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, Volume 2,
Issue 3, March 2013.
8.
L.B.Bhuyar and A.S. Shahare, Application of Reverse Logistic Model In Indian Railway For Plastic
Waste Collection And Distribution International Journal of Mechanical Engineering & Technology
(IJMET), Volume 3, Issue 1, 2012, pp. 33 - 39, ISSN Print: 0976 6340, ISSN Online: 0976 6359

Books
1. S.K. Khanna, C.E.G Justo, Highway Engineering