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

Polymers are used worldwide for their unique properties such as a light weight or chemical resistance, but which have led to an environmental challenge because of the time they need to completely decompose when buried in landfills. Complementarily, bitumen generates the second biggest environmental impact in the construction of a road. This paper analyses the mechanical, environmental and economic performance of replacing 25% of bitumen with two low-cost plastic wastes (cable plastic and the film fraction from household packaging waste) in an asphalt mixture. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the technology from the 3 viewpoints analysed. The plastic-modified mixtures achieve reductions of more than 17% and 11% in the economic and environmental impact when the analysis is focused on the wearing course.